The Do's and Don'ts of Crafting Your Statement About Current Issues

As a digital marketing professional this week thus far has been full of crafting, reading, editing, reviewing, and posting of "official statements" in response to the civil uprisings happening after the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Let me hit you with some Do's and Don'ts in crafting your statement and handling communications with your audience during this time if you are not an organization or company that wants to uphold racism and police brutality. 

DON'T Not Make a Statement

This is a country-wide uprising, even spanning to protests in other countries. The issue of systemic racism and police violence is a big issue. You cannot ignore it. Do not go on, business as usual, because you will be seen as tone deaf. Use the pressure to make a statement as an opportunity to have real conversations at your organization or company about where you stand and what you can do. 

DO explicitly state that BLACK LIVES MATTER

This is a line in the sand, and you must cross it. It is time to explicitly state that Black Lives Matter. This can be scary for older organizations. You may be thinking "Won't this alienate some of my customers/audience members/donors?" Ask yourself instead, "Do I want to uphold the systems of racism in this country?" If you are an older, trusted, organization or business your explicit statement that Black Lives Matter might actually be the catalyst for someone to think more deeply about the issues. You have an audience that trusts you, use that trust to help open their eyes. 

DO list what you plan to DO. 

Action, action, action. If you plan to post, discuss what actual ACTION you plan to take. Are you helping the neighborhood where your business is clean up following protesting? Are you donating to an emergency or bail fund? Are you pushing the congress people for the district your business is in to take action to protect the people? You have to DO something, and you have to tell your audience what you are going to DO. 

DON'T POST A FLUFF PIECE.

Do not post some "we are the world" "all lives matter" "we're in this together" fluff. Make a STATEMENT with your statement. If you're going to say something, say something. 

DO SHARE RESOURCES

No one expects you to have all the answers, especially as a business or company that likely is in an industry outside of social justice. Share resources with your audience from sources you trust so they have places to go to learn, donate, and take action themselves. 

Again, this isn't about being pressured to make a statement outside the character of your organization or company. If you do not support racism and police brutality, this is about using this opportunity to examine where you stand, make that known publicly, and begin doing the WORK of dismantling the systems of oppression that led to George Floyd and countless other Black people dying at the hands of police officers with no justice.