Statement on the U.S. Protests

Tomorrow we will be putting out our 50th cast. When we assembled this cast we wanted to say something about the protests in the U.S. I have copied what you will hear tomorrow verbatim below.

Hello everyone, before we get to the cast proper we wanted to take a moment to address how the Brainwaves team feels about the current situation in America. We feel that even though our voice is small, it is important to speak up when events like this occur.

As 3 white guys we will not pretend to understand what the black community has experienced worldwide during our lifetimes and for centuries beforehand. However we do stand with the protesters who are seeking justice for the killing of George Floyd and the countless other black Americans who have been unlawfully killed.

The United States is being run by a fascist who wants nothing more than to line his pockets and those of his rich, white friends. He doesn’t care about people, especially those who look different from him. We hope his rule is brought to an end in November. Our own country is being run by people who foster the fear of ‘the other’ to score political points, to divide, and make money. Whilst they have not quite sunk to the levels of the Trump administration, it is all too easy to imagine a scenario where they would. 

For our own part we will be endeavouring to highlight the work of BAME UK designers more. We are conscious of the fact that we have not had a diverse range of voices on the cast or in interviews.  We’ll be striving to do better on that front over the coming weeks, months, and years. Our goal has always been to lift up smaller publishers and designers and we also need to add diversity to that goal. We, and games, are all made better by listening to and understanding diverse voices. 

It is easy to feel powerless against what is happening in the US, and in the UK regarding Brexit, at the moment. We hope in our own small corner of the internet that we can do better, and that we can help lift up a diverse range of voices through our actions. 

Black Lives Matter.

In addition we would like to draw your attention to places where you can donate to the causes that are fighting the injustices in the United States and the United Kingdom.

You can get a huge collection of games from itch.io by getting this bundle and all proceeds will go to Black Lives Matter and the National Bail Fund Network.

This image has a information on a lot of the places where you can donate

For the UK, the Stephen Lawrence Trust does excellent work.

We understand that this is not the usual content you expect from us, but at times of potential radical change like this, we believed it was important to speak up and be counted. As a news focused cast it is impossible for us to ignore the events of the wider world, and now more than ever the privileged amongst us should use our voices to help however we can.

Thank you.

The Brainwaves Team