(This portrait of George Floyd was illustrated by designer Clara Zhou, as a tribute to Mr. Floyd, and as a part of a challenge she issued to the design community to take action. Clara has graciously allowed us to include this personal work of hers with this post. Thank you Clara for your leadership in action.)
This will be a short post.
It's short because I'm still not entirely certain what to say.
But this post exists at all because the events that have transpired since George Floyd was murdered have made it clear that not saying anything because I'm not sure what to say is the hallmark of white complacency and complicitcy in systemic racism (that exists not only in America, but right here too).
But I'm also clear that talk is cheap.
Our company has never once before made any statement in support of Black Lives Matter, or any other human rights movement or issue before. And that in spite of an unspoken focus on creating and maintaining an inclusive and diverse workplace, these words exist nowhere in any internal document or on our website. And that we have never sought to understand how diversity can play a part in the process of our brand planning and design work.
We've got so much work to do. And that work starts with cleaning up our own house first.
For today, what I have to say on behalf of our company is that the work -the action- has only just begun. We will update this space once we've selected a partner to help us navigate this examination of our company and our processes, and once we've educated ourselves and found a local organization that is already doing the work, that our company will be donating to. These are our starting points. We're clear that this work will yield more work.
And personally, as a privileged white man, my work starts with, among many other things, unlearning.
Now, back to work.
-Mitch
UPDATE (June 23): Here's a quick update of our ongoing work:
- We have made donations to two important organizations who are actively, and in different ways, engaging in support and advocacy work in Vancouver Black Lives Matter Vancouver, and Battered Women's Support Services.
- We are immersing ourselves into the Design for Diversity™ (D4D) framework created by Boyuan Gao and Jahan Mantin of Project Inkblot, so that we can immediately begin to reframe not only our internal processes, but those we employ for client work. As a branding agency, we understand that while we are certainly not experts in designing for diversity, that our work nonetheless wields immense potential to help our clients create and launch brands that are for all people.
- Next: Once we have created this starting point by updating (and/or overhauling, as needed) these internal systems and processes ourselves, we'll engage a DEI professional to further audit, refine and overhaul.
If you're ready to take action, here's a great list of resources Clara pointed me to.
With gratitude to Conner Galway, who lead the way for me with his post The Necessary Work of Anti-Racism, which is also full of great resources, and to Dave Hale, whom I've never met, whose LinkedIn post made me clear that our work must start internally.