A Letter from Everett

When I first met my wife I told her, “Philadelphia is my first love,” and that building our life together within these city limits was my dream. I have been fortunate to be living that dream for many years now, with most elements of both my personal and professional lives now permanently woven into the fabric of this city. I live here. I work here. I eat, shop, and play here. My children go to school here. This is our forever home.

But not everyone here gets to live their dream and today the city I fell in love with is unrecognizable. It would be irresponsible of me as a white man, local business owner, and community member to remain silent while so many are suffering. I am writing to extend my hand out as an ally to those in pain and to commit to helping our city rebuild stronger and more inclusive than ever.

First and foremost, I want to be clear that I strongly condemn the use of tear gas and rubber bullets on peaceful protestors. Everyone should have the right to be heard and the use of force on unarmed citizens to silence them is not acceptable. We need law enforcement working to regain the trust of their communities by listening, not by kneeling on the necks of those they took an oath to protect.

I condemn the opportunistic looters and vandals that are choosing to incite violence and, in turn, distracting from the important message of protestors. The senseless destruction of our city does not solve anything and provides people an “out” to stop listening to the message entirely. In the long run, looting and violence will only hurt small, local business owners - many of whom are people of color - that do not have the means to rebuild after the double blow of COVID-19 shutdowns and looting.

Springboard Media has been a Philadelphia company for over 25 years and we are proud of that. We love Philadelphia and we are not going to give up on it. Our company champions inclusion and diversity and we are forever allies, helping Philadelphia live up to its name, a city of love and liberty, kindness and equality.  We hear you, we see you, we stand with you. There is so much healing to be done and each day brings new opportunities for each of us to learn how to be a part of that process. This is a pivotal moment in history and everyone needs to do their part to make real, positive change. Hear the message of protestors, and lobby for real change in our community.

With Love & Hope,

Everett Katzen

President & Owner, Springboard Media