At Choice of Games, we uphold the self-evident—yet surprisingly controversial—idea that anyone can be a hero. It should not matter if you are male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bi, or just plain queer; cis or trans; black, white, or brown. Due to its history of structural racism, the egalitarianism that we espouse is not reality in America.

Let us be clear: Black Lives Matter.

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Adama Traoré. João Pedro Matos Pinto. 

These names haunt us, as they should haunt you. And these are only a few recent victims of white supremacy and police brutality.

Over the course of the past week, police officers and other security forces have committed disproportionate, illegal, and immoral acts of violence on protesters demanding accountability for the police.

This comes at a dire time in the history of the United States, when our president, unable to acknowledge the possibility of defeat, is willing to jettison democracy in favor of his own ego. We at Choice of Games have real concerns that if these protests fail to effect change, there will not be an election in November.

We support four specific short-term demands:

1. An end to qualified immunity for law enforcement.
2. An end to the sale of military equipment to law enforcement.
3. An end to the use of tear gas and other chemical weapons.
4. The creation of a national database of law enforcement officers dismissed for misconduct, that would prevent those officers from being rehired by another department.

Yet these demands only address the symptoms; they will not cure the disease. The entire United States criminal justice system must be reimagined.

We encourage everyone that can to attend a protest—socially distanced and nonviolent. If you can’t protest, we encourage you to donate money to bail funds and other community organizations pushing for police reform; you can even stream this YouTube channel, whose advertising revenue will support bail funds and other organizations. If you can’t donate money, we ask that you donate your time by calling your elected representatives—from your city councilmembers, to your state representatives, to your Congressional representatives—and express your outrage at the conduct of police and other security personnel.

Because we believe that this moment requires more than words, Choice of Games LLC and Hosted Games LLC will each be donating $10,000 to this collective bail fund, which will split the money between more than seventy community organizations across the country.

Now is the time for all of us to be heroes.