Statement of Solidarity

We, the editors in chief of ACM Interactions, stand with the millions of people across the globe repulsed by George Floyd’s murder and committed to combatting anti-Black racism and white supremacy. Before George Floyd in Minnesota, there was Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and so many more. We affirm our support of the protests and demonstrations of civil disobedience. Many millions in the U.S. and around the globe are in inconsolable pain and feeling traumatized by the systemic racism that pervades all aspects of ordinary life. We acknowledge this pain and trauma, and also recognize the deeply seated racism present in our professional and scholarly practices, including in our work at the ACM.

As non-Black people, we have only our imaginations to feel the depth and weight of this all-encompassing pain for Black Americans and Black communities worldwide. Living with the constant fear that theirs will be the next life taken is a reality for many of those who contribute to our magazine or who we hope may contribute in the months and years to come. As part of the editorial team of Interactions, we feel it is our responsibility to hear and address this experience and terror.

In our magazine, as in our individual scholarship and practice, we have too often failed to confront anti-Black violence and systemic, institutionalized racism, remaining silent when we should have spoken loudly. We have an opportunity to follow the courageous lead of millions of activists by demonstrating care and solidarity in the fight against white supremacy within design and computing fields. We can do more to care for our Black colleagues and other persons of color, their well being, and their safety. We can do more to work with our non-Black and white colleagues to remind them and ourselves of the internalized anti-Black racism that runs deep and that we are each responsible for unlearning. We owe it to our community as a whole to do more and to work harder to protect people’s right to live free from racism and injustice.

We commit to:

• Publishing content related to anti-Black and racialized violence and the fight against systemic, institutional racism and white supremacy

• Prioritize publishing Black voices and other scholars of color

• Promote themes and issues that respond to racism and show a responsibility for battling racial violence and inequities.

It is time to act. We need to do more to recognize and elevate the voices of those who experience systemic racism and oppression—whether through new collaborative forms or new paths for community-based practice. We need to learn and unlearn together in order to build conditions for eradicating racial, gendered, sexual, colonial, and ableist violence, in all its guises. These wider intersecting issues will also be ones we return to. A statement of solidarity is only a beginning.

Daniela Rosner,
Alex Taylor,
Mikael Wiberg

Editors in Chief of ACM Interactions
[email protected]