11 Jun #BLACKLIVESMATTER STATEMENT
Silence is not an option, we can all be afraid to speak for fear of saying the wrong things, but sometimes you just have to speak out………..
The appalling wrongs we have recently seen so graphically and tragically unfold, mean we must lend our voices to the rising swell of concern and outrage from around the world.
Compassion and kindness sit at the heart of our values as a business, and we can’t pass by on the other side of the road and ignore the events we have seen. Racism, prejudice and persecution, in all their forms, are abhorrent to us.
We must also face up to the fact that we operate in a mostly white, mostly male, mostly middle-class environment, and things are slow to change. It would be wrong to deny that our profession is not as diverse as we would ideally like it to be.
Regardless of what we find ourselves defined by, we all remain fragile and human, and that basic respect for the life and planet we all share remains our guiding principle.
We also recognise that we can’t just make this statement and move on. Equality and diversity matter on every level, and we must strive to learn, to be curious, to encourage, to be better, and to be braver too.
We will undertake to engage with this challenge at every level; with sector partners as an influencing organisation, in addressing institutional barriers and ingrained bias. Within our business, to discuss these issues openly, to explore what the #BLM movement means to us as individuals and collectively, and we commit to change.
Change must happen, because Black Lives Matter.
Andy Snapes
Senior Partner
Ward Williams Associates
June 2020