by Broc Miramontes, on June 2, 2020
We founded Crew on a set of core values, and these values make up the foundation on which we perform work and conduct business. Chief among them is Empathy, the ability to stand in the experience of someone else and to feel what they feel.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was famously quoted to have said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” As we collectively take in the painful situation unfolding across the country, our duty to stand together against all forms of hatred, discrimination, and injustice is not lost on us.
Over the past few days, I’ve had candid, honest, and frankly challenging conversations with Crew employees, users, and customers. One of the greatest strengths of our community is the diversity of people who compose it. We are lucky enough to be of use to people across the spectrum of race, ethnicity, and economic circumstance, and it is this gradient of experience that makes the work we are able to do together so broadly impactful.
Thinking forward, we have a lot of work to do as a society to challenge the behaviors and biases—both conscious and unconscious—that fuel discrimination in this country.
Yesterday in our hometown of San Francisco, Jaime Foxx briefly spoke to this idea before a crowd of over one thousand peaceful protesters:
“After all of this—and this is going to die down, it’s just inevitable—the work is still there to be done. If [George Floyd] can be handcuffed and that man can sit on [his] neck for that long and feel comfortable about it, that means that he is not afraid of what’s going to happen to him. We have to change the language. They have to be worried that, ‘I could go to jail for this.’ They have to respect us. They have to love us.”
It’s so critical that all of us do the work to go beyond understanding, to really stand in the experience of people for whom discrimination—overt and otherwise—is an inescapable part of life.
In the face of these trying times, it is our duty to listen and to feel. To stand together against all forms of hatred, discrimination, and injustice. To stand together in search of reconciliation and healing. To stand together and to emerge from this period stronger and more resilient than before. Our actions, individually and collectively as a community will make a difference, and starting with empathy is the first step.
It is our deepest honor and privilege to partner with you and to serve our Crew community.
