In this challenging time, many may be struggling to make sense of everything that's going on in the world, ourselves included. We're grateful that your interest in More For Less has brought you to our home, where we can add our voice to the conversation without pulling focus from those whose voices need most to be heard.
Passions are naturally running high right now, and words are more important than ever. Words at their best can unite us in a common cause and help solve our problems. Words also have the power to make chaos and divide allies, even unintentionally. And words, no matter how well-intentioned, can dilute or replace more important voices, particularly on social media where too many businesses and individuals have complicated an already unfair situation by using it to draw attention to themselves.
We’re extremely grateful to our More Fur Less family for leading the way in helping us understand how we can support the cause effectively. Our friends of color and MFL suiters have been speaking publicly during this crisis, with passion and eloquence. When we’ve reached out to chat privately, they've spoken frankly about what this moment means for them, and have helped us truly understand the challenges they have always faced, both in the wider world and here in our community.
Their voices, and those of countless other people of color, are far more valuable than ours. Their stories and viewpoints, shared on social media and other platforms, have helped inspire and bring people together. Listening with an open heart, with honor and respect, has made clear all of our responsibility to unite in the quest for justice and find ways to help those who are currently hurting.
George Floyd’s death, and other recent failures of justice, have called fresh attention to problems that run deeper than many people previously may have understood or wanted to acknowledge. The people of our country are unifying to confront issues on a scale we haven’t seen for generations: questions of civil rights, the role of government, the forces of racism, and how we can confront injustices, both as citizens and as fellow human beings.
Just as important, on an individual and community level, is how we choose to treat our fellow humans, and how we work together to solve the problems we’re facing. True solutions might seem a long ways off, but we can start by paying attention — understanding the news, seeking out Black voices, and trying to learn ways we can each personally help bring those solutions closer.
It may be tempting right now to just make some noise and hope someone else will solve the actual problem. But this isn't some passing crisis we can help by posting a hashtag or retweeting a graphic. If we want things to change, now is the time to listen, learn, and do the work.
We’re not here to tell you how we can fix the world. We don’t have all the answers. We’re learning and we’re trying, and we hope that we make good choices. But at least one thing is clear: the human rights we celebrate as a nation are meaningless unless we are devoted as individuals to protecting them for one another, from the most outspoken among us to those whose voices too often go unheard. We can do better, we can make a difference, and we will be stronger together.
More Fur Less stands with our friends, family, and community in striving for a world where equal, fear-free access to justice (and the other benefits of liberty) shall not hinge on skin color. Let us be clear. In our community, in our country, around the world, and to us here at MFL, Black Lives Matter. We stand with you in this fight.
— Your Friends and Allies at More Fur Less