#Blackout Campaign Embraced in Berkshires

The #Blackout Tuesday movement took hold in the Berkshires on Tuesday, and that included several Berkshire businesses and organizations that took steps to denounce the events that led to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota on Memorial Day.

Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck as he pleaded for air on Memorial Day in Minnesota.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that local actions ranged from company statements to changes in advertising to blackouts on social media. It all took place in conjunction with the #Blackout Tuesday movement, a day in which activists observed, mourned, and looked to bring about policy change after Floyd’s death.

The Eagle reports that Berkshire Money Management of Dalton changed the company’s entire advertising campaign for the month of June, replacing its normal ad copy with just a blackout space. Jonathan Butler, the president and CEO of 1Berkshire, said his organization took part by remaining silent on all their social media pages.

According to the publication, two other Berkshire entities, Radiance Yoga in Pittsfield and Community Access for the Arts in Great Barrington, released statements Wednesday, both condemning the events that led to Floyd’s death, and expressed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

*Information from this article was obtained from the Berkshire Eagle from a story in Thursday's print edition. A link to the story couldn't be found on the publication's online edition.