Black Lives Matter: Resources for Change & My Apology

I’m sorry.

I acknowledge the problem of systemic white supremacy in America and beyond.

I acknowledge the decades of privilege afforded to me as a cis white man, as well as generations before me. 

I acknowledge the current whiteness of my team, our industry, and our world. 

I am so sorry for my contributions to the perpetuation of white supremacy. 💔

My commitments follow…

Resources For Change

Sign Petitions

• 📩 Email for Breonna Taylor

• 🍁 Colors of Change

• 📣 Change.org

Support Criminal Justice Reform

• ❤️ TED: How We Can Make Racism a Solvable Problem and Improve Policing

• 📕 New Era of Public Safety: An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing

• ▶️ A conversation with President Obama: Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence

• 🔎 Campaign Zero: Research Based Policy Solutions

• 📉 Center for Policing Equity: Data Science for Justice

Support Civil Rights

• 🖤 #BlackLivesMatter

• 🎭 Broadway Advocacy Coalition

• ⚖️ NAACP

• 🗽ACLU

Explore Race

• 😳 White Fragility

• 🤟🏻🤟🏼🤟🏽🤟🏾🤟🏿 Talking About Race

• 👉🏻 SURJ: Showing Up for Racial Justice

• 🌌 Broadway for Black Lives Matter (Again)

• 🏁 Reimagining Small Business: Town Hall

• ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻 Obama Foundation: Anguish and Action

Watch Black Stories on Screen

• 🇺🇸 13th

• 🤬 When They See Us

• 🖤 If Beale Street Could Talk

Watch Black Stories on Stages

• ☂️ AlvinAiley.org

• 🎭 AmericanSlaveryProject.org

• 😇 BroadwayInspirationalVoices.org

• 🏡 NationalBlackTheatre.org

Engage Black Businesses

• 😍 Broadway Babysitters

• 📰 Broadway Black

• 🕺🏾 Broadway Collective

• 🎤 Karen Parks

• 💰 Rachel Rodgers

DEI Consultants

• 📇 Ericka Hines

• 📇 Gina Gomez

Seek Healing

• 🧘🏽‍♂️ Southeast Addiction Center - This guide offers a list of the top 50 resources to support Black Men who are struggling with addiction or mental illness.

• 🌅 Live Another Day - Live Another Day believes in equal access to life-saving mental health and substance use resources. This website provides extensive information on the best resources available.

• 📍 Detox Local - An excellent resource that features abundant information including mental health and substance use resources specifically for the AAPI (American Asian and Pacific Islander) community.

• 🌺 Core Awakening (White Ally offering TCTSY: Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga)

• 🦋 Michelle Lynch Healing (White Ally offering Depth Psychology) 

More to come, but I will not add resources until I’ve personally read/watched/researched them myself. 

• 📑 Click here to share anonymous feedback or additional resources.

• ⏯️ Click here for “#BwayForBLM Resources” created and compiled by Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew for Broadway Advocacy Coalition in June 2020.

• 💁🏻 Click here for “Anti-Racism Resources” compiled for white people by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein in May 2020.

• 🙋🏻 Click here for “Antiracism Resources for White-led Organizations”

I’m committed.

I’m committed to anti-racism: to uncover internalized racism, prejudice, and inherent bias, and work to dismantle white supremacy, too.

I’m committed to justice: holding police, court, prison, education and healthcare systems accountable.

I’m committed to equity and equality: creating and sharing a company mission, vision, and DEI statement, maintaining a safe and inclusive online community, and seeking diverse advisors and new hires. That’s the beginning…

I’m committed to learning and relearning.
I’m committed to uncomfortable conversations: online and offline.
I’m committed to listening.
I’m committed to ruminating.
I’m committed to speaking.
I’m committed to DONATING.
I’m committed to ACTING.
I’m committed to VOTING.

My vision for our future is
a fair and EQUAL planet. 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

— MLK

Justice needs to be served. We owe it to George, Breonna, Iyanna, Tony, Armaud and so many others…

#saytheirnames - Twitter

I’m sorry I haven’t been more vocal and engaged in civil rights and anti-racism. I promise I will be.

If I were in NYC, I’d be at the protests. I have some ideas percolating on how to help make change from afar; short-term and long-term. 

I’ve started with anti-racism education, digital advocacy, personal outreach, donations to Black organizations and causes, adding more representation into my content, and more is to come. 

Recommendations and feedback are always welcomed—though I do not expect BIPOC people to educate me. I will do the work.

If I have blind spots or transgressions (past, present, or future), please let me know so that I can heal them. My DMs or inbox are open, as is my heart and mind. 

Is this long post and apology necessary? YES!

To my colleagues who may be scared to write something (as I was), know that your voice and public support mean so much to the oppressed. I can speak from that experience.

This is a crisis and emergency: it’s truly a matter of life and death for black and brown people.

SPEAK + SHOW #BlackLivesMatter:

Online + Offline.
Words + Actions.
Seen + Unseen.

Thank you Jelani Aladdin for your voice, challenge, and encouragement.

https://t.co/68Y4nsAOHg

— JelaniAlladin (@JelaniAlladin) June 4, 2020

“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times. I think that is true of painters, sculptors, poets, musicians. As far as I’m concerned, it’s their choice, but I CHOOSE to reflect the times and situations in which I find myself. That, to me, is my duty. And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when everyday is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved. Young people, black and white, know this. That’s why they’re so involved in politics. We will shape and mold this country or it will not be molded and shaped at all anymore. So I don’t think you have a choice. How can you be an artist and NOT reflect the times? That to me is the definition of an artist.”

— Nina Simone

As an Artist of the 21st Century, don’t forget the power of storytelling: your story and Black stories. 

Media and social media CAN change the world. We’re seeing that change right now—and transitions are never easy.

I thank you, reader, for being the Changemaker you are. 

Honor YOUR past.

Present YOUR present.

Design OUR future. 

🖤🤎🤍💜🌎🌍🌏

“What’s something simple that I can do that’ll have a positive impact on my block?”

— Jahmal Cole