Supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement in a Meaningful Way

Sam Spinale

ss730219@ohio.edu

The Black Lives Matter movement has been a robust stance against racism, inequality, and discrimination toward the African American community since 2013. Its power has brought a necessary change throughout our country. The movement has sparked a revolution that's reformed how our country operates. The change is even seen in business and consumer practices. Some consumers will only shop at places that support causes they believe in, like the Black Lives Matter movement. While many companies support the Black Lives Matter movement, many people are skeptical of the support. Some companies put on a facade, but others are all in to make real change.

Source: abc.net

What is the Black Lives Matter movement?

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is a social movement formed in 2013 that is "dedicated to fighting racism and anti-black violence, especially in the form of police brutality," according to Britannica. Activists of BLM have held many protests across the country to condemn the unjust killings of African Americans and demand change. The movement was initially created after the shooting of Trayvon Martin and continued to garner support after the shootings of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and many others, according to Britannica. 

Why is there skepticism about some of its support?

Many businesses in corporate America show support for the BLM movement on social media, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're trying to combat the issue outside of social media. Posting on social media is easy, but real change is not, according to sfgate. While many businesses don't seek to make change beyond their social media posts, many do. There are plenty of businesses that advocate and take action to help make change through the Black Lives Matter movement. These businesses have seen praise from their customers, the media, and those actively involved in the BLM movement for their support and actions to help make change beyond just a social media post.

Source: Morning Consult

Which companies support Black Lives Matter in a meaningful way?

There are plenty of companies that have made lasting change through the Black Lives Matter Movement. One notable company is Cisco which, according to builtin, "announced in 2020 that they would donate a total of $5 million to Equal Justice Initiative, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Color of Change and Black Lives Matter, and its fund. They have also committed $100 million for strengthening historically black colleges and universities." 

Another notable company that has made change through Black Lives Matter is IBM. The company's CEO, Arvind Krishna, said that the company would stop selling and developing general-purpose facial recognition technology. This technology has "been shown to be less accurate when identifying Black faces, which would reinforce racial bias if the technology is used for policing," said builtin.

One last company making a notable difference through BLM is Snap Inc. The company shared its diversity data and committed to doubling the number of women in tech roles by 2023. They also pledged to double the number of employees from racial minority groups by 2025. As of 2021, the company has already doubled the women on its board by 50 percent, according to builtin.

Cisco, IBM, and Snap are not the only companies making a change. Other companies that have meaningfully committed to the cause are Etsy, Grubhub, Microsoft, Peloton, Reddit, Shopify, Uber, Comcast, Slack, Paypal, Bumble, DocuSign, DoorDash, Techtonic, and SoftBank, as stated by builtin.