Like so many organizations, we’ve spent the last two weeks watching, listening, reading, and reflecting on the state of the world, this country, our industry, and our place in it. 

Before George Floyd’s murder, before the national outpouring of grief and anger that followed, and before the heroic energy of so many protesters flooded the streets, most of us came to work every day satisfied by our company’s particularly strong core tenets of fairness, kindness, and community. We’re doers. We celebrate our individual differences daily, empower human beings of all kinds, and support organizations around the world who equitably serve the global community. 

So it’s upsetting to look at ourselves right now and acknowledge that we’re not doing enough. Were we blind to the racial divide and systemic discrimination in this country? Of course not. But were we too comfortable with being and doing good in a more general way that didn’t address it? Yes. 

In the wake of this necessary upheaval, we’ve had to ask ourselves a lot of uncomfortable questions: Do those core values that we hug so tight really extend to everyone? What – who – are we overlooking? Who are we representing – or not representing – in our products and staff? Whose voices are we elevating? Who still needs a mic? And, of course, how can we do better? It’s clear that we need to do more, and to do so with intention and transparency.

There’s still a lot of reflection to be done here at Blue Q … and not just among the leadership, not just the design team, not just those in charge of hiring, but each and every one of us. This is going to be a group effort. And we recognize the urgency of action. So we’ll share our working plan of action with you here. 

First, a note about timing: We’re sorry we’re late. We’ve gone almost entirely silent these couple of weeks because we wanted to allow space for the important conversation filling our feeds. But, to be honest, we didn’t know how to enter that conversation ourselves. We’ve been scared to say the wrong thing, too much, or too little. It’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth. And it’s unacceptable.

We know that confronting discomfort is the only way forward. We know we’ll make mistakes, and hopefully we’ll learn from them. We also hope to learn from you, our community, about what is and isn’t working. We owe it to ourselves, our employees, and most of all you, to keep the conversation open.

And finally, before we sign off and get to work, we want to say, unequivocally, that Blue Q stands against racism in all forms. We stand against apathy, we stand against silence. We stand in condemnation of police brutality, we stand in support of the protesters, and we stand with and for Black lives.

Update: Thank you for your feedback! We are happy to publish your thoughts, suggestions and even complaints. That said, we will not approve any “All Lives Matter” comments.