Fighting Systemic Racism, A Letter From Our Founder

It’s been a very emotional period since the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, on May 25th. We’ve seen a large and justified uproar against injustice and systemic racism within the U.S and global society as a whole. It has shed light on one of the biggest and most serious failures from a society - to bring equal treatment and justice for all, and has brought into focus the deep and ongoing suffering and pain inflicted on people of color.

We condemn all violent protests and looting of businesses that distracts the conversation from where it needs to be, yet its been heartwarming to see people of all colors coming together to protest and demand change in peaceful ways. I hope that we’re witnessing the birth of a new movement that will not stop until racial injustice and police brutality has been eliminated from this planet. But, hoping is not enough. Actions need to be taken, both by individuals and businesses.

Silence is compliance. Listening and learning is the first step in the fight against racism; followed by asking ourselves how we could have possibly let this happen in the first place. A speaker from a recent protest I attended in Oakland said, 

 “To all white people coming here today, I appreciate y’all showing up and all. But I’m bitter f*ng sweet about it - Where y’all been?? This has been going on forever, I have to live with this everyday of my life. Don’t just say something, do something.”

The power of his words stuck with me.

I started this company with the intention of making a positive impact on our society and believe that we do that through our mission and products we make. However we have yet to use our voice and platform to support the values we believe in for society as a whole. 

Blix has grown from a tiny startup to a small, yet more established company. In this position, we’re now more able to use our resources to take action that reflect the changes we want to see in the world. We’re actively discussing the best ways we can support racial justice and will be updating our community on our action plan. As a starting point, we are working towards these goals:

• Work towards diversifying the presentation in our marketing, advertising and other forms of media by including underrepresented groups of people. 
• Demonstrate meaningful change and support the movement towards social and racial justice.
• Lead by example in our industry and community to demonstrate how to achieve sustainable, systemic diversity and inclusion. 

Change does not happen on its own. Please keep the conversation going at your work and at home, and more importantly with the people that do not share your views. 

Pontus Malmberg

Founder/CEO, Blix