Popular website BabyNames.com recently made a powerful statement on its homepage that Black lives matter.
In place of the rankings of babies and photos, the site features a black message box naming over 100 Black people whose lives were lost as a result of fatal police brutality. The gesture is in response to current protests for racial justice following the death of George Floyd.
ok baby names dot com go off pic.twitter.com/4jkDQHKsDP
— bijan (@bijanstephen) June 9, 2020
“Each one of these names was somebody’s baby,” the collapsible message reads. “BabyNames.com stands in solidarity with the black community.”
The list names Emmitt Till, who was beaten to death at 14, along with other well-known victims, including Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Botham Jean, and Philando Castile.
BabyNames.com founder Jennifer Moss, who considers herself an ally, spoke with HuffPost about the company statement.
“I saw the names listed on NPR, and they broke my heart. I knew then I wanted to include them in our company’s statement,” Moss said. “I’m a parent, and it just came from my heart.”
The company also tweeted the list of names and appears to be continually updating its list with additional names.
Name added: Amadou Diallo#blacklivesmatter
— BabyNames.com (@babynamesdotcom) June 10, 2020
“My goal was to make people understand that they aren’t just names,” Jennifer Moss said. “They are human beings and were loved.”