To our Black community members: we affirm your lives matter. We stand with you as an anti-racist organization and will continue working to dismantle the systems that oppress you and the violence that plagues you. We will honor George Floyd and will fight against the erasure of Breonna Taylor.
To our non-Black members: the Black people in your life, your coworkers and friends, are going through an immeasurably painful time. Make space for them. Ask them if there is anything you can to make their lives better personally. Do not ask them to do research for you. (If you don’t have any black coworkers, go have a talk with your recruiting team and senior leadership because clearly, something is wrong).
Here is what we as an organization commit to doing to support the Black community:
-
We are donating all profits from our programming this week to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
-
We will be rolling out free career resources for Black women. If you are a non-Black community member and have services you’d like to offer, please complete this form. If you’re a Black woman interested in these services, hang tight!
-
We will on an ongoing basis, promote the Black women business owners in our community to our audience.
-
We’re holding a virtual gathering on Friday to hold space for the Black women in our community, and to discuss tactics for non-Black members to become better allies. (More info to come).
-
We’re encouraging all our non-Black community members to educate themselves on racism in America. Here’s a list of books to help you get started. If you are purchasing these books, please do so from a Black, woman-owned book store.
-
So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
-
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
-
Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
-
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
-
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
-
How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
-
Blindspot by Mahzarin Banaji & Anthony Greenwald
-
We will continue to listen, work, amplify, and learn. We stand with our Black sisters in solidarity.
Yours in struggle,
Claire, Ashley & Team LGP
