“It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.”
―
I am not fast at thinking on my feet. I usually need to marinate and think through things.
I don’t like to just react when I’m angry. And I’m angry. At the world. At the haters. At our leaders. At myself.
And that is why we at Coeur has been quiet on the massively important topic of racial equality since we first posted our heartbreak and action after the first day of protests. We have been thinking and reading and asking questions and trying to learn. There has been so much NOISE the past two weeks and no one is hearing much of anything other than IT’S BAD EVERYBODY!
Racism and injustice in the U.S. How are we still here? Yes, it is systemic. If you don’t understand that, you don’t have all the facts. I didn’t have all the facts. And I thought I was pretty “woke.”
Posting and protesting is the first step. Then we need to takes the actions to affect LASTING change. On the systemic level. This isn’t the sexy part of being passionate about a cause. This is the doing the research and the donating the time and the money part. We know we aren’t going to solve this thorny issue. But we do think day to day interactions and actions add up.
And we are here for it.
We all know triathlon and cycling aren’t diverse sports from a participant standpoint. Like, at all. A lot of that is due to the cost of three sports and the associated equipment, as well as access to it. Systemic.
I always thought I didn’t care what color or orientation anyone is. As long as you are kind and thoughtful, I’ve got a hug for you. If you came into this sport and wanted support, I was here for you. Coeur was here for you. And I thought that was enough. But that was lazy thinking. That was privileged thinking.
These last few weeks have taught me we need to do more. We need to actively go out and make equality in this sport. In this world. Not wait for others to come ask us for help. Duh.
Here is Coeur’s three-fold strategy to affect change for racial injustice over the next 12 months. Is it enough? It is ever enough? This is what we can commit to and actually activate with our capacity. We will continue to learn and listen and find out if there are any other ways to help.
We welcome input as always. Please let us know (nicely, please) what we can improve on, why and how. Please do not yell at or shame us. It’s easy to find fault. Please do not point out perceived negatives without providing a helpful, realistic, and positive solution in its place. Let’s be responsible adults and have a respectful conversation because we know not everyone agrees. Please also keep in mind we are a small staff. We are small but we want to do as much as we can. We will use our teams of ambassadors and Collective Beat members to help as we can.
Our lens is women in sport. Right now, it will be specifically about getting more Women of Color into sport.
Ok, here we go:
- Our ambassador team in 2021 will reflect the diverse make up of the United States: currently, that is roughly 12% black, 18% Hispanic and Latina and 5% Asian. If not that many applications from those demographics come in, we will actively reach out to find more candidates.
- Setting up a $2k a year scholarship to help a woman get into sport. This year we will work with the Black Women in Sports Foundation to identify and award a qualified applicant and follow/document her progress in 2021.
- We are dedicating Friday's on our social media channels to highlighting causes/groups/individuals who we think are doing an awesome job of promoting diversity in triathlon, and for women in sport in general. We will identify them and tell you about them in the hopes of bringing more helping hands and dollars their way. Coeur will reach out to them directly to ask what they need most and report that and try to help ourselves.
We are also going to be doing a fundraiser through the rest of this month. We have designed a tee and a kit collection that was designed with intent and with our hearts.
All profits from the sale of these clothes go to the charities named below. To be clear: Coeur makes zero money from these garments!
Black Lives Matter Tee
Profits goes to Black Lives Matter Movement. You can also donate to your local chapter.
The story behind the design:
Yes, it is our mark. Because Coeur IS taking a stand and we aren’t ashamed to say it. It isn’t about getting attention or PR for the company. That is so transparent in this day and age. Not that companies don’t do it. But just eeww. We didn’t spell out the full Coeur logo because of that.
The intent of this tee design was to display the names (there are so, so many names) of those POC that have been killed by police. I couldn’t fit them all in. And I felt guilty. And then I thought “exactly.” There are waaayyy too many names, and the issue hasn’t been contained yet. Research how many of these incidents had action taken in them. Systemic. When you wear this tee, I want people around you to have to lean in to read the names. I want them to pay attention and then ask you what it means.
Wear it, start a conversation.
You can get your gear HERE.
All Together Collection
Profits go to the Black Women in Sport Foundation
https://www.blackwomeninsport.org/
The story behind the design:
Most of you that know Coeur know we wear our heart on our sleeves. Like the tee shirt above, we want to wear something that might start a conversation. And since we are so often in spandex and riding, we made some kits! This design is pretty simple in concept…we don’t care about race….we care about, as a famous man once said, the content of their character. We are all in this world together. Let’s find a way to make it ok for all of us to live together. Don’t hate something so uncontrollable as the color of one’s skin. That’s just you be afraid. Plus, we prefer to have fun and that is easier to do when we are all together equal.
You can get your gear HERE.
What can YOU do? The answer is soooo simple.
- Register and vote. In all the elections. We think our one vote won’t count for much. They all count. Be counted. Do it NOW: https://www.vote.org/
- Particpate in the 2020 Census. Be counted. Do it NOW: https://2020census.gov/
We have so much more to say. But, there are so many more people that have said it much more eloquently already and know way more than we do. So we at Coeur are just going to put our heads down, go to work and try to affect some change in the world. We’d love your help.
Heart & Courage Always,
Kebby
