Dear BarBend Readers,
Strength communities around the globe provide friendship, camaraderie, and support to millions of people. In many ways, PRs and record attempts are secondary to the relationships we build in and out of the gym. We believe the greater strength community we know and love has no room for hate, racism, bigotry, or misogyny.
The events of the past few weeks have shown that staying silent is simply not enough: Individuals, companies, and brands with influence have a responsibility to communicate their support of communities that have faced prejudice, hate, and marginalization. We stand with the Black community.
As a media company focused on the strength world, we believe there are a number of actionable steps we can take to better highlight minority and underrepresented voices. These include:
- Publishing more frequently on Black and minority achievements in strength
- Going further to partner with and shine a light on Black-owned businesses catering to the strength community
- As a company, taking additional steps to support Black and minority-owned businesses with our dollars
- Creating more open lines of dialogue with members from across the broad spectrum of communities within strength
- When hiring, prioritizing an inclusive candidate sourcing and interview process, and ensuring that process includes people of color
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of what we can do. These are starting points.
At BarBend, our goal has always been to help bring strength sports more into the mainstream while promoting the work, achievements, and goals of strength athletes at all levels. We can and will do a better job to make sure underrepresented voices, business owners, and athletes are heard and seen.
Strength is for everyone. And #BlackLivesMatter.
Best,
David Thomas Tao
Co-Founder, BarBend
