BLM X IGWM
After the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, I was tasked with creating a statement for In God We Must which clearly outlined a position of solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement. I’m proud to have been able to give voice to this issue from the perspective of this brand.
When I started In God We Must, I did so with a recurring theme in mind. We have, since the beginning, been “The Home of the Pioneer Spirit.” To me, a pioneer spirit is the willingness to endure hardship in order to explore new places and try new things. A pioneer looks for a way to go farther - to climb higher - to stand on the precipice of a new horizon with their face towards the sun, the memory of their fight still lingering in their muscles.
Right now, we are in the fight.
In the course of building an individual narrative, it’s possible to ignore the systems that have been set in place in order to maintain an arbitrary sense of order. We know we are guilty of overlooking our prejudices and privileges, and in this time of upheaval and turmoil, we are resolved that no longer be true.
I want to state unequivocally that I as a person, and we as an organization are fully supportive of the truth. That Black Lives Matter. And that In God We Must is committed to the idea that without justice there is no true peace.
Speaking from the pulpit in Selma, Alabama in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded the gathered crowd, “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.” Just one day earlier, a crowd of recently deputized “state troopers” had beaten activist Amelia Boynton unconscious at the base of the Edmund Pettus bridge.
In the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that a Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on the neck of George Floyd, the world was reminded of the chasm that still exists between our society and liberty and justice for all. In the cold-blooded and senseless murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, that fact was further solidified. It is the job of a just society to ensure that all its citizens are given the same opportunity to flourish, and it is the job of all citizens within that society to hold its institutions to that standard.
Marcus Aurelius wrote in the first century that in addition to committing acts of injustice, "You can also commit injustice by doing nothing."
We believe in justice for all, and therefore we believe that we must act accordingly. To that end, In God We Must will be donating 10% of all our profits for the month of June to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. We are resolved not to ignore our privilege, but to use it to bring about a just society.
We, like everyone, have seen the discourse playing out in the past week, and are both heartened by those who have made statements of solidarity or amplified the voices of activists in the Black community and disheartened by the animus directed at individuals and organizations who have taken a stand. If the idea that Black Lives Matter raises your ire, we invite you to take some time to study and learn from Black voices and reevaluate the way you build your societal narrative. If you’re unwilling to do that, we hope and pray that your eyes will be opened to the truth that not all in our midst are treated equally.
Let us now be resolved to action.