To the STEEZY Community:
This is a painful time – for our families, for our friends, for our dance community, for Black Americans as a whole. The people we love are hurting, and we’re infuriated by the injustices that have occurred again and again.
Our words feel insignificant, but to be silent is to be complicit.
As a company that teaches dances rooted in black culture, we refuse to stand for the hate crimes and murder that have continued to affect the communities we love.
Black lives matter, and for us, it’s not enough to just not be racist – we have to actively fight against racism, day by day.
Two of our core values as a company are Authenticity and Thoughtfulness. We believe we shouldn’t be speaking louder than those affected most, because these are not our stories to tell or our anguish to amplify.
As a platform with so much reach, we seek to empower the black voices that are desperately fighting to be heard, inside and outside of our dance community.
For this reason, we hosted an IG live session on Wednesday June 3rd – “Dance Community Voices In A Time Of Injustice”
We thank everyone that joined our conversation for being open minded and vulnerable. It’s through education and listening that we as a society can stand with our black community and fight back against injustice.
But just speaking up alone isn’t enough, and holding a conversation is only the first step. We, as a community, need to be active in our support. This isn’t something we do just today, but something we continually work on.
In our continued mission to support the Black Lives Matter movement:
STEEZY committed to match $10,000 in donations to Black Lives Matter and supporting organizations.
Over the course of one week, we asked our users and followers to send us their donation receipts, which we would match dollar for dollar.
We received a whopping $14,903.25 in donation receipts, and at the end of the week, pledged our own $10,000 contribution to the Equal Justice Initiative – an organization that supports Black Lives Matter through ally education and justice system reform.
Check out this chart to see a breakdown of which organizations the STEEZY Nation chose to donate to!
We will also continue our work to research and bring you content that has been workshopped with OGs and authentic community leaders, to fully represent the culture that so heavily influences these styles that we love.
We will continue to build our diverse team, hire by hire. You’ll see that play out in the next 14 roles we have this year.
Finally, we’re working to keep educating ourselves and those who we teach through STEEZY Studio. Below we have compiled a list of resources, so you can learn more, do more, and give more support with us.
We hope our practices as a business and as people within the dance community become a step in the right direction for impacting meaningful change, and we appreciate your choice to read this letter, and join us in support.
With love, The Entire STEEZY Team
LEARN MORE
Educational texts on becoming an ally - Check out the texts in this sheet to learn more about how non-black people can be better allies.
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#action - Campaign Zero examines local laws and seeks to change them. Click on your state to learn how to better impact your local judicial and police system.
DO MORE
https://blacklivesmatter.com/ - Find your local Black Lives Matter chapter and attend meetings in your area.
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#protesters - If you’re able, get on your feet and protest. This resource has tips on how to protest safely and effectively.
https://issuu.com/nlc.sf.2014/docs/beyondthestreets_final - If you’re not able to protest, review this list of ways you can support from home.
GIVE MORE SUPPORT
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#victims - Donate to the victims of police violence.
NAACP Legal Defense - Fund those who are fighting on behalf of police violence victims.
https://www.nlg-npap.org/ - Donate to those working to increase accountability for police.
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#bail - Send direct bail funds to arrested protesters.
