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&pizza CEO calls for action re: black deaths in police custody

June 2, 2020

The highly socially active pizza brand, &pizza, is taking a firm stance with regards to its leader's views concerning the recent deaths of black individuals in police custody in the U.S. The brand has always inserted itself into issues of public debate, seeing itself as a citizen of the national community.

Just yesterday &pizza announced that it would provide paid time off for employees who choose to involve themselves in community activism, in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, while being arrested by police there. Protests have taken place across the U.S. in recent days, after Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest for nearly 9 minutes, even though video of the arrest clearly indicated that Floyd was telling the officer he could not breathe. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was terminated and later arrested on charges of third-degree murder. Three others officers involved in the action were also terminated.

In related protests in Louisville over the weekend, that also called for action around the death of a black EMT there in March during a police search, a bystander was shot and killed when Louisville police and the Kentucky National Guard fired into a crowd of protesters there Monday morning. The victim there, who WLKY-TV news in Louisville identified as David McAtee, owned a barbecue restaurant in the area where law enforcement fired into the crowd. 

All of the actions and violence prompted &pizza's Lastoria to release these thoughts to this website late Monday. 

"Enough. This is about systemic racism. This is about Black lives mattering. And this is about activism. 

For those unseen by this country to be seen, for those underrepresented in society to be felt, and for those unheard by this government to be heard.

It's about showing — and fighting for — Unity.

We at &pizza, with all our unique backgrounds and circumstances, have pledged allegiance to this mission as our guiding belief. And we’ve always tried to make it more than a word, to act as more than just a pizza brand, and to serve more than just our guests. Now, in honor of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless others whose tragic loss must never be in vain, we are instituting paid time off for activism with 3 days for all employees (in addition to existing paid time off) and with incentives and opportunities to earn more. 

And that’s just the start: we’ll continue to listen and iterate as we continue to get this right. Because as we all face more — more of our historic demons, more of our present troubles — it's even more important that we face it together. 

Many of the protestors are experiencing this. This desperation. This anger. For them justice in the workplace is a part of justice in America. 

And, as this last week has glaringly shown, justice in America calls us all to action."