The team at Emerald have been taking some time to reflect on recent events and our response. We believe that Black lives matter, today and every day, and that injustice and intolerance must end.
We are horrified not only by George Floyd’s unjust death, but also Ahmaud Arbery, Amadou Diallo, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, Stephen Lawrence, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, and many others who have lost their lives as a result of racism. We stand in solidarity with everyone fighting for racial justice around the world, and with our colleagues and customers who are experiencing pain and grief now, and in the past.
At Emerald, we are proud of the work we do on equality, diversity and inclusion. However, we are not proud of the representation of Black people within our business and within our sector. Scientific publishing has a problem with racism. Black voices are underrepresented throughout publishing staff, editorial boards and authorship, as well as the wider research community. This needs to change. Black voices matter. We have a lot of work to do to try to right the wrongs of centuries of lack of opportunity, representation and support. Emerald must listen, unlearn, learn and act.
We are deeply grateful for the work our colleagues continue to do to hold the business accountable to a much higher standard. We commit to focused and progressive steps forward for Black representation in all areas of our organisation.
We acknowledge that we need to
- change our organisation to better represent, mentor and support Black colleagues. We will start with improved education and awareness, particularly for managers
- change our products and publishing portfolio to amplify Black voices. We will start by embedding Black representation targets in our R&D and product development practices, and our editorial networks
- change our sector to drive for equal representation. We will now respectfully refuse to take part in panels or to sponsor events that are not fully representative of the communities they serve
These are small steps and we will continue to build on these. The impact of Black research and Black voices can change the world. We are here to listen, understand and amplify.