Black Lives Matter: A Letter from CREDO

We write to you today with a very heavy heart. We are saddened but also so angry at the murder of George Floyd by a White Minneapolis police officer. It once again serves as a stark reminder of the ways White supremacy and systemic racism stack the deck of the criminal justice system against Black people.

As we watch the protests unfold across the country — including the callous and violent escalations by police and military forces — we can’t help but think about what Dr. Martin Luther King said in 1967:

 “A riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”

Right now, Black communities are feeling so much pain and anguish, from the coronavirus pandemic that is falling disproportionately on them to a failing healthcare system that ignores them and shuts them out. Now, as Black and Brown people who have had their voices systematically silenced for hundreds of years are again crying out for change in the wake of another racist murder, our leaders are trying to silence them once again. 

We need justice and accountability for George Floyd, as well as Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald, Philando Castile, O’Shae Terry, Michael Brown, and the thousands of other Black people whose names we do not know who have been killed by the hands of a brutal policing system. 

Ultimately, while we have fought alongside our allies for decades in the pursuit of civil rights and equality, our company can’t change the centuries of oppression, racism and White supremacy that have taken Black lives and erased their histories. But we will always support Black people and do what we can to end the war on Black lives.

Yet, we don’t have all the answers. We won’t offer platitudes or words of comfort, because there’s nothing we can say right now that will change how you and we are feeling. CREDO has always stood for progress, justice and equality, and we’re more committed now than ever to live these values for our employees and our customers. Over the last 35 years, our members have helped us donate more than $28 million to groups fighting for civil rights, and we will continue funding our allies in the Black Lives Matter movement and our civil rights grantees like NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU. 

We will also be donating an additional $50,000 to our long-time allies at Color Of Change to continue their critical work fighting injustice in all its forms. 

This summer and fall, we will aggressively work to ensure more people register to vote, have access to the ballot — despite attempts at voter suppression, especially in communities of color — and make their voices heard in our elections. Because our only hope to change this deeply unequal system will come, in part, when we change the leaders in charge who stoke violence, promote hate and continue the institutionalized racism so pervasive today.

But voting isn’t the only solution, and our members have asked us what they can do right now. For starters, we can not — we must not — stay silent. We urge you, too, to speak out. If you’re a White person, you must truly understand your privilege, learn to be a better ally and listen to Black people to understand what they are feeling. 

We’ve also compiled a short list of resources and actions you can take right now, including donating to groups on the front lines of this movement, ways to speak out from home and information if you decide to join a protest. This is by no means comprehensive, and we apologize ahead of time if an organization, call to action or another resource hasn’t been included. Please tweet us at @CREDOMobile, and we’ll do our best to lift up your voice.

• Sign the #JusticeForFloyd petition from our allies at Color Of Change, or the Justice for George Floyd petition from allies at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
  
• Donate to the National Bail Fund Network or contribute to a local bail fund in this community-created Google doc, updated daily.
  
• Donate to the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
• Urgent policy solutions to end police violence, from Campaign Zero
  
• Additional ways to take action in solidarity with Minneapolis, from Indivisible
• Resources about White Supremacy Culture, from Showing up for Racial Justice
  
• Black People Need Stronger White Allies — Here’s How You Can Be One, from Refinery 29
  
• What You Can Do to Support the Protests Right Now: A Guide, from TESA Collective
  
• How to Protest Safely During a Pandemic, from VICE
  
• Know your rights as a protester, from the ACLU
  
• Download the ACLU’s Mobile Justice app, to automatically upload your recording of police conduct to your local ACLU chapter

Sincerely,
Ray Morris, CREDO