SONNET Black lives matter, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is committed to doing the hard work to ensure that we continue to amplify Black voices and support the vital work of civil rights organizations and other organizations that dismantle and fight white supremacy through education, legislation, legal advocacy, and pushing for systemic reform. We pledge to work for racial justice and true and authentic equitable inclusion, both as individuals and as a company. Racial justice begins with each of us. At Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, we are committed to boosting the voices of BIPOC, committed to listening, committed to accepting correction. Unlearning the institutionalized bigotry and structural biases of white supremacy is incredibly difficult. Challenging your own biases, your own prejudices, and the comfort of your privilege can be extremely difficult, and few people want to deliberately give up any perceived power. But we have to do this hard work – all of us do – if we want to combat white supremacy, racism, and institutional brutality. We all have to recognize that privilege is built on the shoulders of oppression and commit to dismantling the structures of white supremacy even when (especially when!) it is frightening or uncomfortable to do so. Every day in this country, Black people are murdered by police, subjected to hate crimes, denied employment, loans, medical services, housing, and equal access to opportunity. What is discomfort in the face of these terrible injustices? What else can we all do? First, we must pledge to listen to Black voices, pledge to uplift Black voices so they cannot be smothered or disregarded, pledge to de-center our own narratives, and commit to listening when we are being corrected. We must commit to educating ourselves about the history of racism in the United States, commit to decolonizing our media by reading books and watching movies, plays, musicals and television programs created by BIPOC, and commit to using whatever privilege we possess as a shield that protects others. We must refuse to be silent; we must speak up louder than ever before and refuse to allow ourselves to be intimidated into inaction. Do not lose sight of this: your words matter, and it matters when you take a stand against racism. Make a commitment to calling out racism wherever you find it. No, you probably won’t win over most rando trolls on the internet or your racist uncle, but your words will give other people strength, you will foster courage, and you will show vulnerable people that they are not alone. The power of your voice empowers others to speak up. Call out racist actions, racist ideals, and racist policies wherever you find them. When you say nothing – when you do nothing – nothing changes, and silence is complicity. It isn’t enough to not be racist; we must be actively anti-racist. If you cannot attend a protest, you can help by contributing to bail funds, funds for legal representation for protesters, or by making donations to organizations on the front line. You can make phone calls to your congressional representatives, your mayor, your governor, and to police departments, and you can do the hard work to ensure that you help reform your own community police departments. I am Asian and I am Ashkenazi; I know that I will never truly understand what it means to be Black in America, but I will do all I can to fight for equality and civil rights. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab stands with Black Lives Matter, and we will work, listen, speak up, and fight with all our hearts to protect civil liberties, confront injustice, and support organizations and individuals that combat white supremacy. Systemic and institutional racism is a plague on this country, and together we need to bring an end to racism, police brutality, and the policies and constructs that are in place that permit both to exist. At the beginning of June 2020, we made donations to the NAACP, Black Lives Matter, the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and Know Your Rights Camp. Proceeds from Triumph in my Song will be split between Black Lives Matter, the Center for Black Equity, and the NAACP. Triumph in My Song is an ongoing scent series, and will be updated as we are able. Alice Moore Dunbar-NelsonI had not thought of violets late,The wild, shy kind that spring beneath your feetIn wistful April days, when lovers mateAnd wander through the fields in raptures sweet.The thought of violets meant florists’ shops,And bows and pins, and perfumed papers fine;And garish lights, and mincing little fopsAnd cabarets and soaps, and deadening wines.So far from sweet real things my thoughts had strayed,I had forgot wide fields; and clear brown streams;The perfect loveliness that God has made,—Wild violets shy and Heaven-mounting dreams.And now—unwittingly, you’ve made me dreamOf violets, and my soul’s forgotten gleam. Heaven-mounting dreams: a cluster of wild violets, the first lilac blossoms of spring, honeyed honeysuckle, ylang ylang, a touch of fennel, and cerise musk.
