About Hufft

Our Pledge: 1 Year Later

It’s been one year since George Floyd was murdered. Like many in the time after, we found ourselves facing multiple, uncomfortable realizations. We learned “instances” of racial injustice were institutional, not irregular. We were confronted by realities of our white privilege, and sat with the discomfort of unconscious biases. We faced the fact that, despite advantaged upbringings and degrees from esteemed institutions, much of our collective education was designed to withhold crucial parts of history.

We made a pledge to do better, to be better. And, we vowed to hold ourselves accountable, publicly. Our successes, shortcomings, ideas and continual, permanent work.

Since last May, we participated in peaceful protests, and supported causes fighting for racial justice. We dismantled the pieces of our education rooted in white supremacy, and poured energy and resources into learning missing history from professional educators. We donated professional services to outlets serving low-income communities, including fabricating booths that helped disenfranchised citizens vote easily and safely during the pandemic. We learned to get comfortable being uncomfortable; that saying the wrong thing and learning from it, is better than silence.

We still have work to do. We need more diversity within our company. There are ideas for community outreach that still deserve our attention and effort. We are not going to stop now, and will keep doing what we can to be better. We pledge to continue doing our part.

Below are some of the resources, causes and tools our team members have shared in their personal anti-racism journeys. A special shout out goes to Rodney and Stephenie Smith of Sophic Solutions for leading our equity and diversity training. We’re grateful to be part of their community, and look forward to a continued partnership.

REFLECTION:

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training with Sophic Solutions
• Rachel Cargle’s “The Great Unlearn” program
• Louiza Doran’s “Culture of Whytness” webinar series
• Me & White Supremacy, Layla F. Saad (book + 28-day self-guided course)

WATCH:

• “13^th” by Ava DuVernay (on Netflix)
• “When They See Us” by Ava DuVernay (on Netflix)
• “John Lewis: Good Trouble” by Dawn Porter (on HBO Max, Apple TV, Amazon Prime & YouTube)
• “Amend: The Fight for America” by Robe Imbriano and Tom Yellin (on Netflix)

READ:

• The New Jim Crow, Michele Alexander
• Stamped from the Beginning, Ibram X. Kendi
• Caste, Isabel Wilkerson
• I’m Still Here, Austin Channing Brown
• So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo
• Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson

LISTEN:

• 1619, The New York Times
• Code Switch, NPR
• History Shows Us, Lettie Shumate
• Tulsa’s Buried Truth, ABC News
• Pod Save the People, with DeRay, Crooked Media