Standing in Solidarity
Our Blue Bottle community is in pain. The week of Sunday May 31, we temporarily closed all our US cafes in consideration of the ongoing protests unfolding across the country. We have since reopened select locations. But we will not be silent.
We are donating $150,000 divided equally among Black Lives Matter, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Bring the H.E.A.T. This is just a start. We stand with our Black communities all across this nation in solidarity, support, and care. Care to speak up. To listen. To change.
Below is a letter our CEO Bryan Meehan and COO Karl Strovink sent to all US staff Saturday.
Caring Blue Bottlers,
This is a very different weekly message than the one we intended to send. Yesterday—Friday May 29—was a day of immense pride for our entire company, as we reopened a majority of our US cafes with both team and financial strength, an incredible achievement that bodes well for our future.
But nationwide, this is also a time of tremendous grief. As a company and as a country we are not only navigating a global pandemic, we are now feeling the outrage and pain of recent racial injustices that remind us how far we still have to go to achieve real justice in this country.
Blue Bottle is built on care. But in these times, our definition of care needs to be deeper, wider, and stronger than ever. That’s why Karl and I are writing to you together. We need real will and spirit of care to move us and the world forward. This is our challenge, and our responsibility.
We do not know what the future holds, but we know this much: The two of us are more committed than ever that Blue Bottle be a place of safety and belonging—culturally, healthwise, and financially. We will emerge on the other side of these crises in a better place.
When it comes to workplace diversity and belonging, change needs to start with us. Let’s be honest: We’re two white middle-aged men. The only way we can progress in this area is if we care and commit to take responsibility for our own biases, complicity, and privilege.
To our colleagues of color, please know that we are here, to listen and to help. We share your anger and fear, even if we cannot experience them in the same way. To all our other colleagues, we ask that we take the time to listen actively and empathize. Teams across Blue Bottle have put together this list of anti-racism resources—articles, podcasts, films, and other resources we can all explore to help us pursue a path of education and reflection, empathy and listening, attention and care. Please engage with these, so we can collectively decide how we can model real change together.
We also invite you to attend a company-wide vigil this Wednesday where we can reflect, grieve, and even heal together.
If you need additional help, know that there are professional services free for you via our Employee Assistance Program. Please also feel free to reach out to our People Team for requests for support.
Yours in care,
Bryan and Karl
Articles to Read
“America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)
”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
Books to read
How to Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Podcasts to subscribe to
Organizations to follow on social media