One of my favorite James Baldwin quotes (about the Harlem 6) goes “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.”
This weekend, Greg Glassman, the CEO of CrossFit, in 3 different communications, trivialized George Floyd’s murder (and the impact of COVID-19), demonized a CrossFit Affiliate owner for reaching out about Black Lives Matter, and said terrible, heinous things on a zoom call with affiliate owners (several of whom were from Minnesota).
I’ve reached out to HQ about this, and heard nothing. Greg released a half-hearted apology that mentioned only his tweet (Floyd-19). I don’t believe that is sufficient.
CrossFit HQ has no impact on our day to day operations. We pay them, once a year, and we get to use the CrossFit name. It is undoubtedly beneficial to our business, but our programming, coaching, and community are ours. We are not a franchise, we receive no direct guidance from HQ on running our business.
It would be very easy to remain an affiliate, condemn his words, and wait for the inevitable backtracking and diedown of media furor. That would make the next 3 months of business easier as we rebuild after COVID.
We are not going to do that. After discussions with coaches, Skip, and other affiliates, we are ending our affiliation with CrossFit, effective immediately. We will focus on rebranding over the next few weeks, but for now will just go by Front Range.
We will continue to use the methodology that has helped us transform thousands of lives over the past 12 years. We will not continue to give money to a man who’s public actions are so in violation of our values.
For members, nothing will change on a day to day basis. For our social media, website, and advertising efforts, we will stop using the words CrossFit, and avoid paying HQ for any affiliation fees, certifications, or competitions at an organizational level.
Black Lives Matter. An out of touch, stubborn old man does not. I love you guys and look forward to continuing to serve you with top notch coaching, community, and workouts.
John
