Ben & Jerry's, Vox Creative Add to a National Conversation on Slavery's Legacy
NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The team behind Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America is releasing a timely bonus podcast episode tonight on H.R. 40, a bill introduced in Congress examining the fundamental injustice and inhumanity of slavery in the United States, and what should be done to address slavery's ugly legacy.
Ben & Jerry's, Vox Creative and the Who We Are Project launched the podcast series in September last year to examine the lesser-known history of racial injustice and the hidden ways legal discrimination and state-sanctioned brutality continued long after slavery ended. Over six episodes, host and legal expert Jeffery Robinson looked at how slavery continues to profoundly limit Black Americans' ability to gain access to jobs, housing, education, and health care; or to create and accumulate wealth.
Tonight's bonus Episode 7 addresses reparations and the ways recompense has been discussed as policy for the last 100+ years. The episode airs just two days after Ben & Jerry's planned to submit testimony in support of H.R. 40 at a House hearing. "The Atlantic slave trade and the brutal discrimination against African Americans that followed emancipation are part of an immoral period in our nation's history, casting a shadow we live under today," said Ben & Jerry's CEO Matthew McCarthy. "The true cost of slavery must be acknowledged and the privilege that accrued to some at the expense of others must be reckoned with and redressed."
The Who We Are series made the top 100 list for Apple podcasts in its third week– a major feat for a branded podcast – and remained at the top of history podcast charts for the entirety of its season, even reaching #3. It was Vox Media Podcast Network's first original series produced in partnership with a brand.
About Ben & Jerry's
As an aspiring social justice company, Ben & Jerry's believes in a greater calling than simply making a profit for selling its goods. The company produces a wide variety of super-premium ice cream, yogurt and sorbet using high-quality ingredients. Ben & Jerry's incorporates its vision of Linked Prosperity into its business practices in a number of ways including a focus on values-led sourcing. In 2015 the company completed its transition to using entirely non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) ingredients by source as well as to fully source Fairtrade-certified ingredients wherever possible, which benefits farmers in developing countries. Ben & Jerry's products are distributed in 35 countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues. Ben & Jerry's, a Vermont corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a three-part Mission Statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the community. Ben & Jerry's became a certified B Corp in 2012. The Ben & Jerry's Foundation granted $3.4MM in 2020 to support grassroots organizing for social and environmental justice around the country. The Foundation's philanthropy is guided by Ben & Jerry's employees who serve on committees that review applications.
About Vox Creative
Vox Creative is Vox Media's award-winning brand studio. Vox Creative's team of strategists, writers, storytellers, and analysts create original content and experiences that connect brands with influential audiences across Vox Media's editorial networks and beyond. Vox Creative's work spans short and long-form video, podcasts, explainers, experiential, shoppable content and more. They've built houses, invented cocktails, produced documentaries, traveled inside companies to uncover untold stories, and, on rare occasions, have gone to the moon.
About the Vox Media Podcast Network
From daily news and tech, to culture and sports, and from talk and interview shows to news and rich narrative storytelling, the Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically-diverse collections of premium podcasts. Named by Adweek as "The Hottest Podcast Network of 2019," VMPN has over 200 active shows featuring industry-leading editorial voices and storytellers from Vox Media's networks and beyond. Learn more about the Vox Media Podcast Network here.
SOURCE Ben & Jerry's
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