As a firm, MSG has been reflecting on the horrific and senseless killing of George Floyd.

No human being is superior to another. Period. Everyone should be treated equally, with our “social contract” working for every person. No one should be treated differently because of their race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, gender, or history. We must respect one another, even when our views differ. Our laws and our systems must reflect this reality and rebuild from a place of equity for all. We must show empathy, compassion, and love toward each other and embrace our differences and varied views. We must listen, learn, and do our best to understand the systemic and institutional inequalities that members of our Black community experience daily. We must do our part to stop discrimination?and racism and insist on justice for all. We must stand together, united for positive social change. We must protect human rights and human lives. At MSG, we are committed to this calling.

To show our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, on June 19, 2020 MSG will be closed. June 19 is Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Cel-Liberation Day - commemorating Gordon Granger’s reading on June 19, 1865 of the Emancipation Proclamation (issued on January 1, 1863). The end of slavery was an important start, but our social challenge now is to address historical trauma and inequities that disproportionately and negatively impact our Black brothers and sisters. MSG is designating Juneteenth as a “Day of Reflection” for MSG staff – to contemplate current events and the impact on the Black community and how we can each do our part to support and uphold human rights.

Certainly, there is more that can and should be said, but I leave you with this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

With empathy, compassion, and hope,

Shezad Habib

Founder, President, and Managing Director