Yesterday, June 2nd, Social Media Posts Honoring ‘Blackout Tuesday’ a spinoff of “The Show Must Be Paused” campaign started by music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang as a way to mark the lives lost and to show support for the ongoing George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, appeared on the major US wine magazine’s Instagram accounts.
The Wine Media World, from Wine Spectator to Wine Folly, acknowledged in this way the dramatic unfolding of the mass protests sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, and Black Americans in Kentucky, Georgia, and elsewhere in America. Some of the accounts, as Wine&Spirits and Wine Enthusiast, decided also to take a break pause on social media for 24 hours. It’s an important sign of the emphasis on community, inclusion and togetherness in the wine world and beyond. “We will be reporting throughout the week, and in our ongoing content, on how we as readers and an industry can support racial inclusion in our space and in the greater cultural and social sphere” wrote Wine Enthusiast on its account.
Other Wine Media accounts such as Wine Destinations posted a Black Heart quoting “Today and always we stand for peace, love and human rights!”. It is clear though that the Wine Media World alone cannot by itself reverse America’s painful history of racial injustice. But in this challenging time, with a raging pandemic, a faltering economy, and deepening divisions around the world, the Wine Industry too has an important role to play in working with other institutions and using its voice, partnerships, and influence to press for diversity and equality.
As The Winerist says “By pressing mute, maybe now we can truly listen”.
