"I can't breathe"

The past month has been terrible for Black people in the US. But so have the past two years. The past two decades. The past two centuries. We must put an end to this. 

Slavery is one of the greatest injustices any country ever perpetrated. When the slaves were freed many were arrested for vagrancy and put into forced labor (for more information, order Slavery By Another Name by Doug Blackmon). And from that cruel start the injustice has continued. Black Americans have systematically not been given a level playing field for jobs, education, and healthcare.

 If that weren’t horrible enough, Black people have been killed by racists who are often not even charged much less held accountable; Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd are the latest. Too often they are even killed by police who are here to protect us. While there are many heroic policemen and policewomen, the fact is that the world is full of suffering caused by racism that includes unaddressed police brutality and even murder.

Black people in the United States have endured a level of injustice and inequity that is hard to imagine overcoming.  

Yet they have overcome it time and time again.

Our 44th President was black. There are black CEOs. More and more business leaders and government leaders are black. Teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, and more. Black leaders have influenced culture in a way almost no other minority group ever has. Young children increasingly see the potential to have amazing careers and lives in those who look like them, but too often these careers and lives have been reserved for their majority peers.

Despite all the amazing progress the black community has made, still Black people are killed every. single. month. If not killed, subject to constant threat. It's horrible. It's criminal. It's cruel. And it's continuing. 

I am sorry. I hope you are, too. 

But sorry is not enough. We are all in this together. 

Equality and inclusion are incredibly important to me and the company that I run, Logitech. They are part of my values and our values, part of who we are. I’m speaking out for myself but also on behalf of the thousands of people I work with. 

There is no vaccine coming for this epidemic. The only way to stop this is in us, each of us, all of us.

We need change. 

I want to engage with those who have ideas, be part of movements (like black lives matter) that can help address this injustice, I’m here to learn. And I want to actively support those organizations, people, and ideas (please share below) that can help stop this epidemic. 

It's time for this to end.