We are devastated by the brutal killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others before them. Recent events have been a harsh reminder of the longstanding history of violence and harassment against Black people. The pervasive overt and covert structural racism and injustice in our society and communities is unacceptable and must stop.
As people across the country take to the streets to demand equal rights for Black communities and challenge the status quo of racial injustice, our pledge at Vital Research is to do the same. Our vision of a world where every person is valued and has equal opportunity will not be achieved without explicitly targeting racial injustice. We stand for social justice and equality, and as a research organization we commit to shining a light on disparities we uncover by sharing our findings broadly with communities and decision-makers.
At Vital Research, we will take concrete steps to make sure our actions speak louder than words. We support our team members who use their voices at protests and local government meetings to make it known that racism in our society must be eradicated. Our efforts in becoming a Culturally Responsive Organization have taught us the need for humility and the willingness to learn and unlearn. We have work to do in breaking our own habits, fighting our biases, and intentionally implementing anti-racist practices. We will work to find our collective voice by educating ourselves, listening, even when it is uncomfortable, and learning from each other. It is a challenging work in progress, but we have heard the call to action to speak up loudly for social justice and we will answer now and in the future.