#BlackLivesMatter

June 9, 2020 - For the last week, we've held off on releasing a statement in regards to our stance on racial equality and the need to dismantle systemic racism. Instead, we opted to share posts in solidarity that amplified Black voices. Today, we share with you a couple of brief thoughts, not to step away from those voices, but rather to join those voices in lockstep with our brothers and sisters around the world.

We have been watching as the Black Lives Matter movement has taken hold of our social media feeds and news coverage. Most importantly, it's taken hold of our hearts. We’ve felt sorrow as we listened, learned, and heard the voices of those who’ve felt and continue to feel pain from a system of institutionalized discrimination and racism. We hear you and we stand by you. 

The Black Lives Matters movement serves to benefit everyone. It's not a trend. Across the world, in an act of solidarity, people participated in #blackouttuesday. However beautiful this display of unity was, it needs to be just the beginning. Now is the time to step up and be uncomfortable. We need to be uncomfortable, because meaningful change is uncomfortable. Donate to support groups fighting the good fight, even if it requires you to make sacrifices to your daily routine. Reach out and have tough conversations with your family and your coworkers. Watch the documentaries that make your stomach uneasy. Speak to your policymakers and communicate your dissatisfaction with the outcomes of our current system. Ultimately, stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

As a team, we have begun discussions regarding how we can better support the BIPOC community. We will continue to have those difficult discussions as we self-reflect, breakdown learned prejudices and educate ourselves to become better allies. We need to do more, and our team is committed to internally creating space to be called out for explicit and gateway racism. As a start-up, we have the opportunity to ensure our partners and our processes are void of any racial bias from the start. Moreover, we will develop processes that provide increased opportunities that demonstrate the diversity we want to see in the world as our company grows. Today, we want to give space to both mourn and raise Black voices. In the near future, we want to engage in genuine conversations with the BIPOC community, so that we can adequately support the movement within our means and represent their general interests properly. As we grow and evolve, there will be so much more to be done, but it all starts with our first step outside of our comfort zones.

To the Black community, our empathy will never match the collective pain you have faced. But we will continue to empathize, listen and work hand-in-hand to help shoulder this burden together. We will continue to amplify your message and your voice so that it may be heard. We may not always know the right things to say, but we will always stand by you.

We understand that we will never understand. However, we stand.