For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 13, 2020
Press Contact: Louie Tan Vital, 425-330-5787, louie@megaphonestrategies.com; Cabot Petoia, 828-899-9239, cabot@megaphonestrategies.com
40+ Racial Justice Groups Blast “Fascist Four” Corporations That Enabled Capitol Attack: Amazon, Google, Blackstone and Fidelity
In Letter to CEOs, the Action Center on Race and the Economy, Athena, UltraViolet, Color Of Change and Other Organizations Hold Corporations Responsible For Funding and Platforming White Supremacist Hate Groups and GOP Insurrectionists
*** To book an interview, contact acre@megaphonestrategies.com ***
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NATIONWIDE — More than 40 leading civil rights and economic justice organizations including the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), the Athena coalition, the Unmasking Fidelity Coalition Color of Change and Ultraviolet today sent letters to the CEOs of four corporations – Amazon, Google, Blackstone, and Fidelity – putting them on blast for their role in enabling last week’s riots in the U.S. Capitol. As dozens of corporations announce a freeze on campaign contributions and disavow the violent actions, ACRE is organizing grassroots advocates to also challenge corporate power platforming and financing white supremacists and fascists, which helped create the political climate that led to the insurrection.
“These corporations have played a critical role in fueling the rise of white supremacy and fascism in the United States,” said Saqib Bhatti, Co-Executive Director of ACRE. “By providing hate groups and right-wing politicians money and a platform to spread misinformation and incite violence, these corporations are complicit in last week’s insurrection.”
“For years, Amazon has allowed white nationalist, racist paraphernalia to flourish on the Amazon Marketplace, including Kindle Direct, generating revenue for violent, anti-democratic groups. It has long permitted conspiracy theorists to use AWS for tools like Parler to spread lies and recruit forces, and it has watched as hate groups raked in donations through the Amazon Smile program. Amazon’s superficial attempts to reverse course now are far too little and too late,” said Dania Rajendra, Director of the Athena coalition. “If Amazon really wants to fight fascism, it could begin by ending its own donations to elected officials who oppose taxes and the basics everyone needs to thrive. It would stop facilitating donations to hate groups through Amazon Smile and providing technological infrastructure to ICE and Ring footage to police departments. And it would end the dystopian surveillance of workers, activists and communities of color. This is a trillion-dollar corporation employing more than a million people. Every person in the U.S. should expect more substance and less spin from institutions like Amazon.”
“From the attack on the Capitol, to Christchurch and Charlottesville, white supremacist violence is fueled by powerful institutions like Fidelity. Fidelity Charitable, through donor advised funds, funnels money to bigoted organizations who spew racist rhetoric, influence policy and are directly responsible for inflaming (or growing) white supremacist movements,” said Fatema Ahmad, Executive Director of Muslim Justice League.
“The Unmasking Fidelity Coalition reiterates our demand that Fidelity align with the values of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and create a policy, advised by our community groups, that excludes white supremacy from its charitable donations.”
“This was an open attack on our democracy that was supported by so many who have defended, funded, or voted for this white supremacist president and his Congressional allies — including the political financing arms of Amazon,” said Courtenay Brown, an Amazon Fresh worker from Newark, New Jersey, and leader with United for Respect, referring to a $100,000 contribution to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) from Amazon PAC in 2020. RAGA has supported Trump’s baseless and desperate lawsuits to overturn our election, and a 501(c)(4) arm of RAGA also helped organize the “rally” that precipitated Wednesday’s violent attack. “These corporations must answer for their political support and financing of an organization connected to this terrible attack, and cut ties with RAGA immediately.”
“We can’t let corporations hide their hand in creating a dangerous and destabilizing political climate. The fact is, racial capitalism has made white supremacy very profitable. Companies make their profits by targeting Black and Brown communities for extraction, influencing policy makers to avoid regulation and taxation and exploiting labor to enrich wealthy elites that also fund PACs and campaigns,” said Maurice BP-Weeks, Co-Executive Director of ACRE. “The attack on the Capitol was a blatant display of racism and bigotry and we want to expose the role of Wall Street and Silicon Valley..”
A list of the organizations signing on to at least one of the letters can be found below:
Action Center on Race and the Economy
Athena
350 Butte County
Americans for Financial Reform
Asian American Resource Workshop
Aubin Pictures
Call to Action CO
Catholic Network US
Center For Popular Democracy
Color Of Change
Communications Workers of America
Community Labor United
CPD Action
Hedge Clippers
Jobs With Justice
LittleSis
Make the Road Action
Make the Road New York
MediaJustice
MPower Action
MPower Change
Muslim Justice League
New York Communities for Change
Partnership for Working Families
PRBB Foundation
Private Equity Stakeholder Action
Rapid Shift Network
Resource Generation
Resource Generation Action
Sagner Family Foundation
Science for the People – Twin Cities
Seeding Sovereignty
Solidaire Action Fund
Stardust
Strong Economy For All Coalition
Summer Fund II
Survivors Know
Take on Wall Street
UltraViolet
United People Project
Unmasking Fidelity Coalition
On Thursday, January 14, ACRE and partners will hold a press conference on the campaign’s next steps to target these corporations’ partners and customers in holding them accountable.
For details or copies of the letters, please contact Cabot Patoia at Cabot@MegaphoneStrategies.com
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The Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) is a campaign hub for organizations working at the intersection of racial justice and corporate accountability. We provide research and communications infrastructure and strategic support for organizations working on campaigns to win structural change by directly taking on the corporations that are responsible for pillaging communities of color, devastating working-class communities, and harming our environment. Visit ACRECampaigns.org