In the past few weeks, many companies and organizations have made public statements about racial injustice and inequality in the wake of George Floyd's murder. The family that owns and operates the website BabyNames.com wanted to add their voices to that movement as well, and did it in a way that spoke directly to their audience.
In a simple but striking image on the website's homepage, the names of black men and women who have been killed by police are listed with a statement from the site's founders, Jennifer and Mallory Moss.
"Each one of these names was somebody's baby. BabyNames.com stands in solidarity with the black community," the caption states.
BabyNames.com CEO Jennifer Moss told TODAY Parents that the issue of racial injustice is important to everyone who works on the site, including her sisters, daughter, niece, and nephews.
"We knew we wanted to make some kind of a statement..." said Moss. "I didn't want it to look like a platitude, because we are all very moved by this, and we wanted to support the black community."
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Moss decided to use the list of names of black people killed by police after seeing it in a story on NPR's website.
"We're a name website, so I knew we needed to do something with the names," she said. "I don't think people realize that when you see all the names in one place, it's overwhelming. When things happen little by little, we don't notice them as much as when you put it all together and say, 'Look what's happening.'"
Since their audience is mostly parents or parents-to-be, "We wanted to show that these were somebody's children," Moss said.
The BabyNames.com staff is adding any names that were left out as they find them, and they will add to the list in the future if they have to, Moss said — but she hopes they won't have to do that.
The response to the statement has been overwhelmingly supportive, she said. "It's been 99.9% love. That's really warmed our hearts."
She added that she believes that any site or organization with a platform needs to use it right now to support the black community.
"It is important to use that power that you have to speak out about racial injustice, especially when it has been so ignored for so many years," she said.
To the few followers who have asked her why they aren't also highlighting other issues, such as police who have been killed in the line of duty, Moss said that they recognize those issues as well, but that is not what this statement is about.
"The point is to bring focus right now to the black people who are being killed unnecessarily," she said.
