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Last year, the whole world witnessed one of the most glaring and repulsive acts of police violence captured on video when Derek Chauvin, with the active support and cooperation of his fellow officers, put the full weight of his body on the neck of George Floyd as he lay handcuffed on a street corner in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bystanders looked on in horror telling officers to stop. They didn't. And Mr. Floyd died as a result.

In the days and weeks that followed, thousands upon thousands of Americans from all walks of life took to the streets braving a pandemic to call for justice and an end to the extrajudicial killing of African Americans by the police. It was an unprecedented outpouring of support.

Also unprecedented was the response on the part of many corporations, organizations and institutions. “Black Lives Matter” could be found emblazoned on the websites of such corporate giants as Amazon, Walmart and Facebook. In the non-profit sector, many organizations published statements in support of the movement, naming institutional racism as a reality they sought to see changed.

In the year that has passed much has happened. Derek Chauvin is now one of the very few former police officers to have been found guilty for the murder of an African-American. He has been sentenced to over 20 years. The trials of the other officers involved will commence in the months to come. Moreover, a few cities have enacted legislation that seeks to curtail the powers of the police.

With all that has happened, there is plenty that has yet to happen. Despite the appearance of support from the private and public sectors, the lives of Black people continue to be hounded by racism on the job, and the lasting effects of institutional racism continue to hamper their economic advancement.

To make the proclamation Black Lives Matter real in the workplace requires more than statements of support for substantive change in the criminal justice system. It also requires a critical change in how these same corporations value the lives and labor of Black people whose work is essential to their goal attainment and profit-making.

In that respect, I have devised a list of 10 essential indicators that Black lives actually matter at your organization or company or institution.

Black employees

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