Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a movement that garnered substantial support after the unjust death of George Floyd. However, the movement was also met with another movement, All Lives Matter that aimed to diminish the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. Why is the All Lives Matter movement unnecessary? BLM is about equity, not equality. Historically, black people have mostly been discriminated against and denied rights. White people did not have to experience this. Even today, black people and people of colour face numerous inequalities and are often subjected to discrimination, solely because of their skin colour. So, Black Lives Matter movement aims to raise awareness about these issues. These issues are only experienced by black people and people of colour, in general. So, that is why the All Lives Matter movement is unnecessary because white people have not historically experienced the same racism, prejudice, and discrimination as their black counterparts.

Here are 5 companies that support the Black Lives Matter movement.

TikTok

Known for the lip syncs and choreographed dances on its platform, in June 2020 TikTok became the hub for Black Lives Matter activism. Initially, the company was found hiding content related to the BLM movement. But soon after, they apologised and publicly allowed all BLM content on their platform. They also hired outside experts in order to “better serve people of all backgrounds”. One of these experts was Nkonde. She joined TikTok’s content advisory council in early June and aims to examine how race shows up in the everyday life of the platform.

Nike

In June 2020, after the killing of George Floyd, Nike changed it’s famous ‘Just Do It’ campaign to ‘For Once, Don’t Do It’. Nike posted a PSA on its social media platforms urging people to not turn a blind eye to racism. The murder of George Floyd was unfair, and it sparked a huge protest from people, especially in Minneapolis where people used fire as a form of protest in the city where Floyd was murdered. Nike acknowledged that racism is a major issue in America that needs to be addressed and that people need to come together to tackle this.

Adidas

Similar to Nike, Adidas took to Twitter and said “it’s time to own up to our silence”. Adidas urged people to voice their opinions against racism. They also plan to invest $120 million over the next 4 years and fill in 30% positions in their company with Black or Hispanic people; much higher than the standard 13% in most companies in America. Adidas also acknowledged that “The success of Adidas would be nothing without Black athletes, Black artists, Black employees and Black consumers.”

Netflix

The streaming platform, Netflix also showed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement by introducing a ‘Black Lives Matter’ collection for its US subscribers in June 2020. The collection features 45 titles that talk about racism and the experience of Black-Americans. Titles in this collection include the series, ‘Orange Is The New Black’, ‘Dear White People’, Oscar-winning film, ‘Moonlight’, etc.

Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s showed its solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement by releasing a statement titled, ‘Silence Is Not An Option’ where they talk about dismantling white supremacy and actions that need to be taken to bring George Floyd to justice. This is not the first time Ben and Jerry’s showed its support for the BLM movement. It publicly showed its solidarity for the movement back in 2016, as well. “Four years ago, we publicly stated our support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Today, we want to be even more clear about the urgent need to take concrete steps to dismantle white supremacy in all its forms”, said Ben & Jerry’s.

The World We Want is a world without racism; a world where communities could thrive, grow and prosper. Achieving UN SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) would bring us closer to this world, and companies such as Nike and Netflix are already doing their part to bring everyone closer to this goal.