A statement on Black Lives Matter

Creativebrief

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
James Baldwin

The events happening in America are unavoidable, and yet somehow they’re being avoided by some of those most knitted to enacting change and easing the pain and suffering of those most directly affected.

It’ll come as no surprise to those working in our industry that there have been and will be plenty of companies racing to establish their support for #BlackLivesMatter. Because, as has been said, silence is complicity; and seeing the social accounts of impactful brands will have a profound positive impact on a lot of their followers. Yet after the message must come the action.

For us, the irony has been finding the words to speak up about something which has made every one of us want to speak out loud. We didn’t want to add to the swell of rhetoric without knowing we could do something that actually made a difference.

Our chief motivation in what we do is to encourage people to stay connected. To lean into the community we find ourselves in. And this remains the core of what we have to say now. Everyone’s lives are different, and so as people watch the events unfold in America, how they react is bound to be separated by personal experience, history and colour. We encourage everyone now more than ever to talk to one another and more importantly, to listen to one another. Empathy is needed right now. And understanding. For to quote James Baldwin a second time, “ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

The regularity with which we see and hear #BlackLivesMatter might take away from its power. But we must remember the devastating reality that these three simple words need to be said. Such is the broken state of America, and the world right now. But we can change it, and we must.

Below is a list of charities with which you can support the Black Lives Matter movement and the family of George Floyd; one we’ll continue to update. This is where we start. And how we continue is through talking to one another, through education and expression, through understanding and finally action. Because, and we cannot stress how important these words are, black lives matter.

Black Lives Matter

https://blacklivesmatter.com/

Act Blue

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd

The Bail Project

https://bailproject.org/

The Minnesota Freedom Fund

https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate

Official George Floyd Memorial Fund

https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

Bridgett Floyd’s fundraising page

https://www.gofundme.com/f/george-floyd-bigfloyd