#BlackoutTuesday Takes Over Social Media As Corporations Urged To Go Silent In Solidarity Against Racism
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- You may have noticed your social media feed was filled with black tiles in observance of Blackout Tuesday.
It is a call to action to disrupt and dismantle racism.
As CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas reported Monday, corporations are standing in solidarity.
On social media, major companies, especially in the music industry, have gone silent to take a stand in solidarity with the hashtags #BlackoutTuesday and the #showmustbepaused.
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The movement was created by two black music executives who called out the multi-billion industry they say has "profited predominately from black art" and has a responsibility to "protect and empower black communities that have made them disproportionately wealthy."
It came as protests across the country reached a fevered pitch.
The movement encourages corporations and individuals to donate to causes to support victims and protestors, and encourages facilitating honest conversations about race.
Amber Cabral is founder of Cabral Co., an inclusion and diversity strategy firm.
"Stop your social media time. Use that time to do a little bit of research. You can Google how to dismantle systemic racism. You can Google what is privilege," Cabral said.
While corporations are making declarations to support black employees and communities, still fewer than 1% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and just over 3% of executive and senior level managers are black, according to the National Opinion Research Center.
More than half of the employees polled say they've felt racism on the job.
"You have to look at creating ways to get access to talent that doesn't look the same as what you already have," Cabral said.
And Cabral sad it's not enough for companies to only focus on how many people of color they hire.
"Create an environment where I can absolutely make sure that this person is going to feel welcome here," Cabral said.
As for Blackout Tuesday, its creators say it's more than a hashtag. They're in the fight to create equity from the boardroom to the boulevard.
