Why Tara DeVeaux Has Kept Quiet About #BlackLivesMatter (Until Now)
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Editor’s Note: In the past few years, marketers and agencies have grown comfortable taking stands about sometimes controversial topics, including mass shootings and terror attacks. But in the wake of recent police-related shootings and the attack on police in Dallas, the industry was mostly silent. It’s understandable. Race in America is still the toughest thing for us to talk about. We often talk about talking about it — let’s have a conversation, let’s raise awareness. But we thought we’d reach out to a few African-American industry leaders and ask their thoughts on recent events. Their answers were refreshingly frank and honest. In print, we ran excerpts. Online we’re running their answers at length.
Below is the response of Tara DeVeaux, president at MING Utility and Entertainment Group. (Here are the answers from 135th Street Agency’s Shante Bacon, Amusement Park Entertainment’s Jimmy Smith, Translation’s Steve Stoute. This might make some people uncomfortable, but if you want to have a dialogue, this is the only way to start: by listening. — Ken Wheaton
Tara DeVeaux: My first instinct when asked to contribute to this was to say no. For the same reason I have yet to mention anything about #BlackLivesMatter, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile or the shootings in Dallas to anyone I work with.
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