A message to our team and community.

Dear Sandboxx community, 

I have watched closely as the events of the past week unfolded, and concerns about racial inequality have once more come to the forefront of the American discourse. Our team spoke about these civil injustices this week, and we are going to take action in a way that we believe is right--not because everyone is doing it--rather because it is the right thing to do. 

It hurts to see our beautiful country, one I elected to defend and still serve to this day, wrought with frustration and sadness. As I look back on my time in uniform, race was rarely brought to the surface--and maybe it should have been--but my pals with dark skin were never black in my eyes back then. They were Marines. They were part of our barracks gang that played drinking games on Thursday nights as we cleaned our rooms and dreaded a PFT the next morning at zero dark thirty. On weekends we drove up to Eastern Carolina University for the collegiate experience and forgot about the hard training of the past week. During deployment, we sunk our hearts and minds into the mission and our leadership. When things went sideways, you saw the souls of Marines around you, a beautiful transparency few men and women ever get to see. They were just part of our Marine posses our Marine Platoons, and that was that. Looking back on those times, we never had racial issues perhaps that’s because I didn’t see them. We were all equal with respect to the rank on our shoulders and our willingness to take a bullet or volunteer for the person standing next to us. We valued each other's character, humor, and ability to perform in our respective crafts as Marines. We took our jobs seriously, had fun, and cared deeply about each other. 

Today, I wish I had asked more questions about how they felt about race and better understood their unique points of view. Just because I didn't see or feel any racial issues doesn't mean there weren’t any; and there lies the issue we are seeing play out in our country today as a part of the grander societal problem. On a personal level, my white privilege has allowed me to not see and not ask; I am part of the problem and I am holding myself accountable to learn and to listen. 

George Floyd's unjust death was a powerful and tragic reminder that it is time to deepen our conversations with each other as a society. We must find the authenticity and courage within ourselves to participate in this dialogue, because without holistically addressing these issues, we will kick the can down the road as we have for generations.

Sandboxx has two XXs on the end to represent two important moments in the lives of our military community. The first sandbox is the one we played in as kids, learning how to share toys, forming our personalities, and how to play nice with others. These are critical yet beautifully simple moments for our human development. When we enter the military journey, we find our second sandbox, and whether you are a Marine mother or freshly minted Airman, this sandbox is a lot like the first, with more mature characteristics. We learn about our strengths, we learn about the value of a team, and we learn about mission. We strengthen our values and begin to ask ourselves how our ethics inform our actions. These are the two XX's, the two pit stops, for our Sandboxx community.

I ask, how can we do better in each sandbox? What can we learn about race, freedom, and ethics to shape a better future? These are questions for all of us.

As a start, we’re establishing a diversity committee within Sandboxx to hold ourselves accountable. We are using our reach to signal-boost important voices within the military community, our community, that can speak to the challenges ahead, and the path we must forge to get through them together. We are committed to playing a role in helping this nation live up to the American ideals we all hold so dear. 

I encourage your thoughts, comments, and questions as we join together in creating a new spirit of American Unity. 

Sam Meek - Co-founder & CEO - Sandboxx