The Black community is significantly and disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Add to this the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and all the deaths that the larger world never hears about. That’s incredibly hard on the physical and mental health of a lot of Black people. Many Black people come to workplaces across the country where coworkers or leadership do not talk about any of the injustices in society today. That’s why, in our digital community, we are now focusing a lot more on wellness, support, and action.
To support well-being and drive community, this summer we designed virtual concerts each bringing together more than 250 Black Googlers and allies. Around the time of the protests, we drove a fundraising campaign, accelerated through a much larger virtual concert called Music for Good, which raised money for on-the-ground social justice organizations like the Movement for Black Lives and The Bail Project, to not only support scaling the nationwide protests but also support those who were incarcerated as a result of participating in them. This virtual concert in particular brought in some much-needed positive energy after months of constant devastating news, as well as $350,000 in fundraising from Black Googlers and our allies.