Since seeing the tragic video depicting the murder of George Floyd, our hearts (along with many) have been broken. But our hearts are also with those acting against institutionalized, systematic racism. Typically, BrainDo does not respond to news events, but we recognize that staying on the sidelines is not an acceptable form of allyship. We are an anti-racist company and want to make a more concerted effort to combat racism.
When this began, we wanted to speak out as many did. But, we knew we needed to take a pause. We decided against making a reactionary blog or social media post that rang true in spirit but hollow in substance. It was hard to not shout at the injustice, but what good is shouting support without follow through–especially during a time when so many typically silenced voices needed to be heard?
We have been silent so we could listen and learn.
We researched ways to do more than make a post, like ways for small businesses to be better allies to the black community. And we continued to listen. We examined our own practices for diversity and we listened some more. We talked amongst ourselves and we talked as a group about how we, as a small business, can make a difference. And then we listened again.
As a result, we are making changes to our practices ensuring we are not supporting structural racism. We began as a group of friends, and have grown based on our own network of creative friends. We are going to prioritize adding diversity to our network. This starts with prioritizing black job search databases in our hiring process as well as moving away from relying on referrals. We need to expand our network, not just hire people within it.
Other changes are coming, too. We want to continue our education on these matters. Our group activities will expand to include trips to exhibits, shows, and museums that focus on black and more diverse points of view. We are adding an anti-racism library to our shelves and are donating time and resources to charities that support uplifting the black community.
We expect our actions will evolve and grow as we continue learning and listening.
BrainDo believes that no matter what you do, you can always try and do something better. So we commit to doing more than just a blog post, we commit to changing our company culture to combat racism in all of its forms.