How CEOs Have Responded to The Black Lives Matter Movement

In the wake of the death of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, and more, companies are re-evaluating how they conduct business. During this unprecedented time, many leaders are learning what Diversity and Inclusion mean to them and their company. From encouraging discussion and matching donations for the Black Lives Matter Movement, companies across the country are stepping up to make a difference.

Let’s take a look at how these 6 CEOs in particular, have responded to the Black Lives Matter Movement. 

1. Amazon: Jeff Bezos (CEO)

Amazon has been under criticism from customers who took offense in seeing “Black Lives Matter” so prominently displayed across the site. In a specific incident, a customer emailed Amazon saying “For your company to blast this on your website is very offensive to me and I’m sure you’ll be hearing from others. ALL LIVES MATTER!” 

Bezos took to respond to this complaint in a public matter. In his Instagram post, Bezos replied: “Black lives matter” doesn’t mean other lives don’t matter. Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people face in our law enforcement and justice system.” He further goes on to say again that he supports the movement and his stance will not change. 

Amazon has incorporated on their website a lot of information on what the company is doing to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Additionally, Amazon is now offering a collection of Black Lives Matter films that are free for rent on Prime Video (meaning you don’t have to be a Prime member to access). 

2. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg (CEO)

It’s not surprising that a company as large as Facebook has run into instances of controversy on the Black Lives Matter movement. Zuckerberg took to publicly stating his support for the Black community. In a Facebook post, he writes “To members of our Black community: I stand with you. Your lives matter. Black lives matter.” In terms of the social media platform, Zuckerberg pledged that Facebook will be taking measures on its policies on approaching “problematic content” without promising definite changes. 

Previously in 2016, there had been employees crossing out the words “Black Lives Matter” on the company HQ’s signature walls, and replacing it with “All Lives Matter.” At the time, this was actions that the company leadership had previously warned about.

3. Reddit: Alexis Ohanian (Co-founder/Executive Chairman)

Alexis Ohanian is half of the co-founder team of Reddit and is the husband of legendary tennis player Serena Williams. On June 5th, 2020, it was announced via Reddit that Ohanian would be stepping down from his position as Executive Chairman. The company said that he requested that his seat on the board will be occupied by a black candidate. This person would be the first black director for the company.

In addition, the company will be re-assessing policies surrounding the content that the platform will allow. In particular, Reddit’s current policy does not have a specific stance on hate or racism but has been removing violent and harassing content from the platform. This is something that the company will be updating.

4. Starbucks

In 2018, Starbucks came under scrutiny when two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia shop. The company’s response was to conduct anti-bias training for their partners at over 8,000 stores. This was a high profile case that many praised the company on their anti-bias training initiative. Earlier this month, Starbucks pledged their support to the BLM community on social media and provided their anti-bias courses at no cost. 

However, it quickly came to the attention of partners that the company was (unofficially) denying their employees to wear any attire supporting the BLM movement. Backlash across social media for the brand quickly surfaced, and the company announced a reversal on that and they would be providing 250,000 BLM branded shirts for their partners and employees. 

5. Ben & Jerry’s

This ice cream company, famous for their unique flavors and absurd names was not one to stay silent during this movement. The company issued a statement on their website titled “Silence Is NOT An Option” and gave their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. In this, they went into the 4 things they are calling for concrete steps towards and for justice to be delivered to those that have suffered as a result of violence and racism.

6. LaFace Skincare: Lisa Alexander (CEO)

The CEO of this Bay-area cosmetics brand was called out after a video of her and her husband berating someone for stenciling “Black Lives Matter” on his own property went viral on social media. In the video, she threatened to call the cops of the property’s owner, claiming that he was vandalizing the property and that she knew the owners. Alexander later apologized for her racist actions. However, as a result of her actions, notable companies that LaFace Skincare worked with such as Birchbox spoke up and cut ties with the company. Alexander’s husband, Robert Larkins was also fired from Raymond James where he was a managing director, according to NBC News.

These are only a handful of the companies that have responded to the Black Lives Matter movement and have already made changes to their company culture.