COPYWRITER | LETTER FROM THE CEO
Wrote and edited this e-commerce company's response to the social unrest and BLM protests following the death of George Floyd in the spring of 2020. This message was distributed to 150,000+ recipients on behalf of the CEO.
A letter from the CEO to our community:
The truth is, this letter comes too late. The world around us is shifting, and racial justices are being brought to the surface that can no longer be—and never should have been—ignored. We are showing up late. We are showing up imperfectly. We are showing up anyway.
When [this company] began, it was with the vision of sharing a better way to make and enjoy [our products], to foster community and connection, and to discover the unknown good, both in the world around us and within ourselves. Over the past few years, it has become so much more than that. As we grow, we have the opportunity and the responsibility not only to discover good…but to create it.
This company was created with five core values in mind, central to the way we do business and interact with the world around us. These are also the tenets by which I try to live my life, and which I hope to pass on to my children. They force me to ask hard questions and, when I am uncomfortable with the answers, to be and do better.
Family. Passion. Transparency. Authenticity. Doing the right thing. Can we be committed to embodying these values and to leaving the world a better place than we found it if we ignore injustices around us? Absolutely not.
We’re committed to being better. To examining our own privilege and the changes we must make in our everyday lives. To educating ourselves, our children, and those around us. To looking at the ways our complacency has been harmful to others.
We’re committed to doing better and to joining the fight against racism and oppression. Our voice is nowhere near the most important one in this conversation, which is why we’ve been a little quiet lately. Rather than taking up space, we’re opting to spend more time listening to and elevating marginalized voices in our community and in the industry.
We’ll be making a $50,000 donation across organizations dedicated to combating racial injustice. Look for more information to come as we finalize the details.
Additionally, we’ve decided to temporarily press pause on product-related messaging. We love sharing and connecting with our community. For now, let’s focus our collective attention on the important conversations that need to take place.
My hope is that we do not return to normal, but instead move together toward something better.