To the Shine community,

The deaths of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and just recently David McAtee, and countless others, reflect just a fraction of the unnecessary loss perpetuated by racism in our country and the lack of accountability that allows it to thrive in the American justice system.

The same systemic racism is the reason we are losing more Black lives to COVID-19 and continue to see disproportionate rates of depression and anxiety affect Black communities, in addition to the mental health trauma being inflected in these very moments as Black people watch their lives be taken on public display.

Enough is enough.

We are committed to fighting for Black lives.

And we stand in solidarity with activists around the world fighting for justice for Black lives.

As a company, we will continue to show our solidarity by leveraging:

●︎ Our platform: We will use our platform and global reach to advocate for Black mental health by increasing the output of content specific to racial trauma, by continuing to represent Black voices as the majority of our contributors and to speak to issues specifically addressing the Black community. For a collection of free Shine meditations specific to Black wellbeing, see here.

●︎ Our dollars: As an organization, we’ve made donations to Reclaim the Block—a Black-owned Minneapolis organization devoted to reallocating the city’s money from the police department toward community-led safety initiatives and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to help cover the legal costs for protestors. Going forward, we will continue to use our financial resources to amplify organizations that are directly protecting and advocating for Black lives.

●︎ Our business: When it comes to advocating for Black mental health, representation matters—and it begins at Shine HQ. Currently, 82% of the Shine team are POC with 25% identifying as Black. We are committed to making sure our team continually represents Black employees from a diverse set of experiences and that we put the mental and physical health of our team above all else, as we have these past few days.

Lastly, we commit to continue using our position within the technology community to advocate for racial justice, police reform, and demand accountability when a Black life is unjustly lost.

We started Shine in the name of fundamentally shifting representation in mental health—and in this moment, representing and supporting Black mental health has never mattered more. We see you. We hear you. And you matter to us.

Black Lives Matter.

— Marah, Naomi, and Shine HQ