A Statement Regarding George Floyd and Police Brutality

In written form:


We would like to address some things here at Lost in the
Vault so as not to be silent and thus complicit in the structural
failure to address Black issues in America. On May 25, 2020,
George Floyd, a Black man, was suffocated to death by police
officer Derek Chauvin after being taken into custody. In the
midst of this tragedy, which is part of a prolonged problem of
racist and white supremacist police brutality and is not an
isolated incident, we ask our listeners to consider what they can
do to address their own power, privilege, and relationship to
these kinds of issues--what can you do to help, to promote direct
action, and bring the discussion beyond the limited capabilities
of social media? We have seen this time and time again--Eric
Garner, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor-- and we must keep saying
their names.


We are a Disney history podcast, so this may seem
irrelevant to us or our content. It is not. These issues permeate
every crease of our society and culture, and we cannot let it
continue. As our main focus is a megacorporation with huge
influence on the world, we aim to address its faults and those
influences in our episodes. Therefore, when something current and
real is happening in the world, we must use this platform to
address adjacent systems of power and how they are committing
acts of violence on people of color. To ignore these things is to
choose to think change is not needed. It is.


We are not here to dilute Black voices, and will
therefore keep this short. There will not be a new Lost in the
Vault episode this week. We had also planned to record and
release a discussion of the newly launched HBO Max and its
original content; that, too, is delayed until further notice. It
would be inappropriate to focus our energy on these right now and
we ask that you focus your energy on more important matters
too.


We ask that you do what you can within your community to
help. Donate to bail and mutual aid funds. Educate yourself on
the history of Black issues. Protest. At the very least, sign
petitions and talk to your family about why this is important.
The normalization of violence must be broken in these
self-sustaining systems of white ignorance.


There needs to be action. There needs to be
change.


Whatever you do, listen to your Black brothers and
sisters, they need us and we must stand behind them. We send our
regards to you, to all those fighting out there, and most
especially to George Floyd and those who love him. Our hearts are
with you.


From,


Your Friends at Lost in the Vault


We do not stand by racism nor the inexcusable conduct of the
police. We stand by justice.