The killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and Breonna Taylor in Louisville have once again laid bare the anguish of deep-seated racism in the United States. We abhor the senseless violence and hostility that so many black and brown people face every day and have faced for generations. In this time we are all called upon to declare what we stand for, and what we intend to do about it.
At Evernote, we stand against racism, racial inequality, and injustice, in all its overt and hidden forms. We believe Black Lives Matter. And we believe making a better world is everyone’s responsibility.
Many companies have taken public stances supporting Black Lives Matter in recent weeks. Until now we’ve been quiet in public. But within Evernote, our conversations have been many, often deep, and sometimes painful. Our focus has been on supporting our employees right now and finding a path forward together.
Our dialogue began with an email I wrote to the company on June 1. In it, I said:
There is absolutely no place for racism and violence. As an Evernote family, we must stand united and supportive around this simple truth. I hope that in our journey together, we’ve cultivated an environment of trust, transparency and a willingness to hear hard truths. We’ve proven that as individuals and as a team, we’re willing to confront impossible problems. That’s good, because this is a problem that needs all of us.
Yet we know talking is not enough. Standing on the sidelines is not enough. To create lasting change, we must do more. We must amplify voices that have gone unheard for too long, and we must step up.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve begun exploring ways to take meaningful action as individuals and as a company. As a first step, many of us have lent personal support to a variety of organizations and initiatives working to end systemic injustice and inequality, including Black Lives Matter, Equal Justice Institute, NAACP and Southern Poverty Law Center.
Evernote is not a vast organization, but our operations span four major urban centers in the U.S., and others around the world. As a next step, we are working across the company to identify and prioritize actions that can have the greatest impact in our local communities, and within our own walls.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once told the students of Oberlin College, “the time is always right to do what’s right.” At Evernote, we commit to turning words into action so we can all look forward to greater progress as a society.
