The Tipping Point or the Bottom Line?
As corporate support grows for #BlackLivesMatter, many have expressed concern that the transition is not sincere but just a shallow showing of “solidarity.”
When I turned on my Amazon Firestick, I discovered a message on my home screen: “Black Lives Matter, Amazon stands in solidarity with the Black community.” I was stunned to see the display for numerous reasons. Initially, I was surprised that #BlackLivesMatter had made it to streaming entertainment. During the past two weeks of protests, businesses have made statements condemning racism and supporting demonstrations all over the country. If you click on the prompt, you’ll find a selection of films on Black history.
I found the showing of “support” within Amazon’s wheelhouse and strategic, an entertainment company using entertainment to inform others about the Black community’s contribution to the country and the world. However, my thoughts took me to another place: a news segment about Amazon not supplying their employees with personal protective equipment and suppressing protests and strikes when their warehouse employees, mainly Black and Brown, did not feel safe returning to work. They felt the need to express that #BlackLivesMatter however, the very Black lives within their warehouses couldn’t receive the bare minimum protection as we still face a global pandemic that is disproportionately affecting the Black community.
As more companies are rushing to be on the right side of history and express that #BlackLivesMatter, there has been a feeling of legitimate skepticism rising in the Black community. On the one hand, seeing companies express solidarity with the Black community can feel encouraging. Have we finally reached the point where not just Black people are concerned with Black lives, but other people of color, white people, and corporate America? But watching the tide turn overnight has left many of us with feelings of disbelief. Do you believe now that #BlackLivesMatter, or are you looking to be a part of “the moment” to appease your guilt about your racial privilege? More to the point, do these organizations even understand what it means to support Black life?
“Against Racism” versus #BlackLivesMatter
Since the public murder of George Floyd through police brutality, protests have erupted over the country and the world condemning police brutality. As most are aware, #BlackLivesMatter was one of the initial organizations leading the charge when it came to protesting police brutality and protecting Black bodies; however, people wonder about the understanding of #BlackLivesMatter, racism, and white supremacy and how they all interact with one another.
It is generally easy to state you’re against police officers killing people during an arrest. It is typically easy to say you’re against being harmful or disrespectful to people because they are Black or a person of color. However, are the same people willing to go the distance and not state the obvious that racism is wrong, but work to deconstruct white supremacy in our society, how they uphold it, and their racial biases.
Black lives mattering is so much more than not being mean to Black people or killing them because you think they are breaking into a home (Ahmaud Arbery) or shooting wildly at them after they burst through a home during a “no-knock” warrant search (Breonna Taylor). Black lives mattering means Black Lives Matter when receiving prenatal care so we can begin life as healthy as possible, and we are not losing babies and mothers in the birthing process. Black Lives Matter in education means Black students are getting the funding and educational support needed to thrive. It means Black Lives Matter in the workforce, and we receive the job offers, promotions, salaries, benefits, and safe, racism-free work environments we deserve so we can excel professionally and properly support ourselves and families. It means Black Lives Matter in the community so we can have healthy, safe neighborhoods with resources required to live full lives. It is about Black people being about to live good lives, not just stay alive and not die. Lives well-lived free from white supremacy’s suffocating effects on our ability to pursue liberty and happiness.
The Potential Commodification of the Movement of Black Lives
Within recent history, many corporations have developed “Corporate Social Responsibility” programs, either through force because of a company faux pas or desire to make a community impact. Even with positive results, one could argue that the drive to be a company involved in “making change” is rooted in the overall corporate strategy to stay competitive in a world where more consumers are expecting companies to be involved in the communities they serve, and not a legitimate desire to use corporate privilege to make the world a better place.
The parallel of the commodification of Black Lives Matter and another well known civil rights movement: the LGBTQIA Pride Month Celebrations, is jarring. Many LGBTQIA organizers expressed disapproval of the overwhelming corporate involvement in a grassroots movement, spurred by the Stonewall riots in 1969. Many credit Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman, who threw the first brick through the cop car window, leading the charge against the police sent there to harass the bar patrons. The pride celebration, according to them, had become nothing more than a commodified party for sponsors claiming to support LGBTQIA rights when their corporate policies and practices revealed a very different story. Many of the corporate sponsors lacked the diversity they claimed to support, and their LGBTQIA representation mainly rested with having gay, white, cisgender men on their staff.
Supporters of #BlackLivesMatter are aware corporate involvement could mean additional support to push forward the movement but are critical of any company attempting to “jump on the bandwagon” and pay lip service. If a company wants to express that it believes that Black Lives Matter, it needs to implement those values within its corporate policies and procedures. If change starts at home for individuals, then change begins in the boardroom for companies. Companies that are proclaiming they believe Black Lives Matter should begin with their Black employees. You can not be involved with a movement for Black lives and ignore the Black people within your organization. Black people at your company need to know that they are supported, and you need to have an agenda that documents how you plan on supporting Black employees, a program that is co-authored and approved by them. The same goes for corporate responsibility plans: release statements with concrete details on how you plan on supporting Black lives. Making a statement is more than words. It is detailing your plans. Solidarity is more than press releases; it is measurable, dedicated support. If you don’t have an idea you can share with the public on how you are supporting Black lives with concrete, measurable goals and impact, you can not say you stand in solidarity with the Black community. You are merely stating the obvious: Black Lives Matter.
Looking Towards The Future
Many have said that “this time feels different.” When you see who is attending the protests, the multi-racial, multi-generational involvement gives many people hope that this is it. This is the moment we have been waiting for, when not only Black people care about what is happening to them, but the world cares and is ready to do the work needed to deconstruct and rebuild into a better version of this nation. For the sake of us all, I hope this time, they are right. Nevertheless, we’ll still fight on.
