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"As of Friday morning (July 2016), there were no videos of past advertisements to be found on the home page of global advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. No links to bios for the agency's senior managers or founders, no links to contact info for potential clients looking to work with them. Instead, there was only black and white, simple text on a page, and a hashtag: #blacklivesmatter."

Source: The Washington Post



Original Text:
Why your black co-worker seems especially bitter today...
Why your black co-worker seems especially sad today...
Why your black co-worker seems especially quiet today...

We are processing.

We are asking ourselves what to do.

We are hurt because it feels like watching our own selves get gunned down.

We are telling ourselves, "do not let this make you live in fear, do not let this make you hate."

But we're scared for our lives, our family's lives, our friend's lives.

We're mad that the protests aren't working. Why the video recordings aren't working.

We're conflicted, in a place between crippling empathy for this man and his family and contempt at a world that seems not to care enough.

We are disgusted at police but telling ourselves, "you can't hate all police."

We are wondering the point of a moment of silence.

We are wondering if we ourselves will make it back home today.

We are wondering what to do, what to do, what to do.

Just an FYI, not for sympathy. Just acknowledging this because it should be acknowledged. #AltonSterling


Context:
Waking up that morning, I learned what a heavy heart felt like. Weighed down by questions that no answers could possibly justify and anger that no one who didn't share my melanin could fully understand. The complexity of the feeling left me enraged and hopeless all at once. Like many of us on that morning, I showered and dressed myself with that feeling. Rode the bus to work with that feeling. Sat down at my desk, opened my laptop and stared down at my screen with that feeling. What to do? This will probably go down as the single most important thing I have ever written.


In the end, Wieden + Kennedy turned 'The Reason...' into an oversized, beautifully un-shelveable book printed in living color for every person in the agency. Forwarded by Dan Wieden himself, this book serves as a reminder to find ways to incorporate racial justice thinking into our daily awareness, and always reach for deeper levels of understanding and empathy.

SEE THE REASON BOOK HERE