Black Lives Matter

If you were planning on buying a product from us or you were thinking about listening to a podcast about brewing methods, let us be the first to stop you.

Take that money and time and put it towards supporting anti-racism nonprofits and learning about coffee’s interlaced history with racism.

The coffee industry is built on the backs of Black and Brown labor. It has a long and documented history of slavery and colonialism. And while society may appear to have changed, the racist structures have undoubtedly remained. There are many of us in this industry that occupies positions of power, express our desire to establish fairer communities, and possesses important grassroots influence. It is up to us to initiate change. We need to be and act as allies to the Black community.

Across the world, screens are showing the systemic racism and police brutality that is not only on our streets now but has been there for generations. Black Lives Matter is a movement to emphasize this, to shed light on injustices that have and are brushed under the carpet.

We will be upfront about the diversity of our US team. We are mainly white. This is something that we are aware of and will actively work to improve in our hiring practices before the next person is hired.

What we are doing:

• We will be donating 5000 US dollars to the initiative Redeemer Center for Life to aid the movement against racism.*
• We will be donating 2000 US dollars to the initiative Dream Defenders who look to empower against racism.
• Ongoing & longterm action on our website. This month, and every month for the rest of the year, we will identify and highlight a different nonprofit organization whose main goal is to dismantle systematic racism. Our customers will have the option of both learning and donating. The website logistics are currently being worked on and we plan to launch this within the next few days. We will continue this support for the foreseeable future, extending it out to other nonprofits that align with our values.  Here is the current product link for the National Bail Out Fund. 
• if you own a cafe or you know of a cafe that is operating as a protest support center, please let us know by emailing us at hello@acaia.co. We wish to support those centers with supplies such as water and snacks if we can.
• We will be pouring 3000 dollars more into other movements against racism. Please keep an eye on near-future social media for these updates.

*Previously, we had stated that we would be donating $5000 to the organization Reclaim the Block. The nonprofit has now put out a call to instead donate to other organizations that are doing similar work. Therefore, we have decided to redirect the same amount to the Redeemer Center for Life. 

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Resources:

• The 1619 Project (all the articles) published in The New York Times Magazine
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism by Dr Robin DiAngelo
• Who Gets to be Afraid in America? by Ibram X. Kendi
• Do the work: an anti-racist reading list by Layla F Saad
• Master List of How to Dismantle Racism by Patia's Fantasy World 
• Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources by Anna Stamborski, Nikki Zimmermann, and Bailie Gregory.
• Slavery & Specialty: Discussing Coffee’s Black History by Sierra Burgess-Yeo
• Questions Of Race In Coffee With Phyllis Johnson Of BD Imports by Anna Brones
• Addressing Anti-Blackness in Specialty Coffee by Umeko Motoyoshi

Nonprofits and companies to support and find education on dismantling racism:

• NationalBailOut.org
• TheConciousKid.org
• ReclaimTheBlock.org - MN specific
• CommunityJusticeExchange.org
• www.BlackVisionsmn.org - MN specific
• DreamDefenders.org

 

Support the Black Coffee Community

• A comprehensive list of black-owned coffee businesses that is actively being updated on Sprudge.
• The Chocolate Barista
• Getchu Some Gear - has an extensive list of Black coffee professionals' venmos.