The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and many others, has rightfully shaken the world and once again shined a light on ongoing and systematic racism and racial bias. Like many others, we are overwhelmed by feelings of sadness, anger, frustration - and disappointment that we have not done more. It has made many of us reflect on our role in society. We strongly denounce racism in all forms, and we commit to do better for the Black community.
Materials Today commits to increasing the diversity of our Editorial Boards. We commit to commissioning more invited articles from under-represented minorities to amplify their voices. We commit to creating awards to recognize and promote leaders championing diversity, equality and technical excellence within our community. We commit to promoting equity and removing systematic barriers hindering Black researchers from receiving fair consideration. We will encourage the materials community to work within their organizations to try to promote a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment. And we commit to listening more. Please reach out to us - we welcome your suggestions. We want to understand how, even if unintentionally, we and the current system are contributing to racial and other injustices and we want to know how we can address this. Together we will make our community better, stronger, fairer and more inclusive.
The world is diverse, science is diverse, and we want to shine a light on this diversity. This is what makes us a vibrant community. We recognize diversity as a foundational trait that makes us innovative and resilient. This can only be done if we are willing to acknowledge and celebrate all of our members, regardless of their gender, racial or ethnic background. We will work to ensure that Black researchers and all under-represented members of our field are welcomed and play an active part in our community.
- The Materials Today family Editors and Publishers