Team Tito Blackout Statement

Recent events have highlighted again injustices that are upsetting and disturbing. Racism, and in particular anti-blackness, is a worldwide and systemic issue that exists not just in the United States, but throughout the rest of the world and very much here in Ireland.

We’ve been working with Kim Crayton to build our company along the ideals of the anti-racist economy. Because of our regular work with Kim, the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests have been shocking, but not surprising to us.

For our part, working with Kim has given us a first-hand look at how important this work is to address systemic injustice, and work toward providing equity of experience to folks whose opportunities are continually marginalised. The status quo is not good enough.

It’s clear that many white people—including us—have diminished the significance of racism in today’s society, and felt it was not our problem to solve. I would encourage everyone to read and learn about antiracism, and to listen to Black voices on Twitter and other platforms. I recommend @kimcrayton1, @polotek, and @firstname_debs  as a good starting point for folks doing daily work. I have also found @jessiechar’s recent tweets helpful. I recommend reading about efforts made to improve things, and things learned from those efforts.

I highly recommend putting in the work to create a space that prioritises the most vulnerable. We are already seeing the benefits for our whole team. I have seen sentiment that folks are scared of putting the work in in case they fuck up. It takes practice. It’s hard. But if you believe in justice, then there’s work to be done. Effort matters. Doing nothing will achieve nothing.

I encourage you to engage with your local community and ensure that there is active representation of an antiracist agenda.

For our own part, to mark our solidarity in a small way, we’re donating today €200 each to MASI (donate), MERJ (donate), Black Pride Ireland (donate), MRCI (donate) and the Immigrant Council (donate), and we will match employee donations up to another €1k.

Feel free to use this post as inspiration or a challenge to do even more than us in your own organisation.