feature image

How Brands Can React And Support Black Lives Matter Movement On Social Media 2020

Black Lives Matter is an organization that fights for justice. Founded in 2013 in response to Trayvon Martin’s murderer, its mission is to eradicate white supremacy and create space for Black communities to improve lives. #BlackLivesMatter related content has been all over people’s feeds in 2020. If you missed out, here’s what happened in 2020: After a monstrous police officer held his knee on George Floyd’s neck while he pleaded for his life (“I can’t breathe”), the worse happened: he died.

George Floyd

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, protests around the globe decrying police brutality against the Black community went viral instantly. Besides angry protesters, compassionate individuals and organisations across different industries began showing their support for the movement. Countless brands have quickly taken the initiative to amplify the voice of the black creators.

According to Adweek, at least 60 beauty brands stepped up to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement including popular ones such as Glossier and Augustinus Bader. Other brands, one of them Loreal Paris, decided not to join the movement. But that’s only because of their previous notorious reputation for being racist. Therefore, be sure that you are practicing what you preach. Join the movement if and only if you really care about the rights of people of African descent or risk being judged even further.

Here are also some ways brands can show support beyond the spirit of social media post.

Loreal Paris

Loreal Paris Black Lives Matter

Be sure on your move especially you are big enough to fall with a tiny mistake. However, some brands are getting credits of the support as well such as Nike.

Here are also some ways brands can show support beyond the spirit of social media post.

Beyond Black-Washing – Supporting diversity should be more than a marketing practice. One good example of how to stand for a real change is Nike’s sponsorship of Colin Kaepernick.

Be An Anti-Racist Organisation – Be an anti-racist organisation takes action to challenge racial inequality.

Sponsor Refugees 

Re-invent Your Hiring Practices – Discrimination is one of the major factors in the unemployment of ethnic minorities. Practise blind hiring to reduce bias in organisation recruitment process.

Support Mental Health At Work – Create a supportive work environment where employees have courageous conversations about racism.

Support Black-owned Businesses – Black-owned business often has difficulties to apply for loans and federal aid programs. So, it could be crucial for them to survive and stay operational during the pandemic.

Below, we will be sharing some brands giving their support in REAL.

#1 The Jungalow – They had donated all net profits on 30th May to Black Lives Matter.

#2 The Future Perfect – The CEO of The Future Perfect has announced to make a donation to both Black Lives Matter and the Bail Project to show their responsibility to change the narrative.

#3 URBN – The parent company of Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie is donating $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

#4 Article – Article is matching all employee donations to organizations addressing racial injustice across North America throughout the month of June 2020.

View this post on Instagram

As we followed the events of the past several days, reflecting on the senseless killing of George Floyd and hearing those who were speaking up against systemic racism and injustice in our world — we faltered. We were unsure if it was our place to speak up. To speak out. To condemn racism and discrimination in all its forms. We are a company dedicated to furniture and design. But we are first and foremost a collective of humans. And we recognize that no matter what you see and read from us other days, today is the day where we must raise our voice and speak on a subject we cannot remain silent on. So let us be clear: At Article, we stand with our community in opposing racism or discrimination of any kind. And it is our obligation — our duty as humans — to say so. We are pledging to match every donation made by our employees to organizations addressing racial injustice across North America throughout the month of June. In solidarity with those across the world fighting for change, we are choosing to go silent on our social media channels until June 7th — or until we feel it is appropriate to re-engage. Know that we stand with you, and acknowledge our responsibility to create change. Black Lives Matter #blackouttuesday

A post shared by Article (@article) on

#5 Interior Define – Interior Define is investing $50,000 into affected communities in Chicago locally.

View this post on Instagram

We’ve taken our time to respond. We didn’t want to just share a superficial message that only seems relevant to this moment. We wanted to take this time to think about what we can do as a company to actively fight racism and create systemic change—long after this moment passes. We’re not going to solve everything, but we can help make progress towards resolving these deeper discriminatory issues. So here are some of the actions that we’re committed to taking: . 1) We will commit $50,000 to support those impacted in our hometown of Chicago. • We will close our virtual offices on Wednesday, June 3 for our team members to volunteer in their local communities and/or tend to their mental well-being. 2) We will build an employee population that represents that of our country. Our goal is to at least match a more diverse workforce as a percentage of our total employees over the next two years, with increased recruiting in channels that better resonate with minority hires. 3) We will explore more resources for training and development, especially to expand our understanding of how to create a more diverse and vibrant workforce. 4)We will use our recurring town halls as open forums to explore what else we can do as a company 5) We will close our office on Election Day so that our employees can make their voices heard (and we encourage you to make yours heard as well). . We want to spark a dialogue about how we can lift up our communities and actively fight against these systemic issues. These actions are just a start, and we would love to hear from you about what we can do—and how we can be—better. Our operating values resonate more today than ever before. Cultivating a spirit of individuality. Empowering our people to have a voice. Fostering a community. And lastly, to never settle. We will not settle for what we are seeing today as acceptable. We will not wait for the next shameless act of violence and racism to spark an outcry that is quickly forgotten. We will use this as a catalyst to create the change that we want to see happen. We’re a small company, but we’ve proven that we can be mighty. One that values everyone. We stand with you. Team Interior Define

A post shared by Interior Define (@interiordefine) on

#6 Magnolia – Magnolia has donated $200,000 and implementing diversity and inclusion training for its internal staffs.

#7 Otherland – The candle company is donating 20% from it’s revenue to NAACP.

#8 Rifle Paper Co – The lifestyle stationery brand is donating 100% of its sales of its Martin Lurther King, Jr. quotes to the Equal Justice Initiative.

View this post on Instagram

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” –Martin Luther King, Jr. Along with you, we have been watching the hurt and unrest happening in our country. The deaths of George Floyd and unfortunately, countless others, are truly unjust and heartbreaking. As a creative brand we have made a print of the above illustrated quote and are donating 100% of sales to support Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org), an organization committed to fighting issues such as inadequate counsel, wrongful convictions, racial injustice, reforming laws that allow excessive punishment, protecting children in adult prisons, and much more that deserves our attention. We encourage you to look into the work the EJI is doing as well as many other organizations that are fighting systemic racial and legal injustices within our country. We are heartbroken at the violence surrounding us and hope we can work together toward actual changes in our system, in ourselves, and making a true difference for the world we live in and the one we will leave behind.

A post shared by Rifle Paper Co. (@riflepaperco) on

#9 Lulu and Georgia – Lulu and Georgia is continually donating to several relevant associations.

#10 Havenly –  Havenly is donating $50,000 to the  Equal Justice Initiative and also employee matching $25,000.

View this post on Instagram

A message from Havenly CEO & Founder, Lee Mayer.

A post shared by Havenly (@thehavenly) on

How enlightening it has been to see many individuals and brands take action in reducing inequality. To the Black Community, we thank you for sharing your voices with the world. Cheers to a better future. Let’s work together. If you’re still wondering how your brand could engage in supporting Black Lives Matter or if you still have doubts about what you’ve just read, tell us. Or simply tell us your thoughts on all of this! We’re interested to know what you think.

 

 

 

Like