To:

Mr. John Donahoe

President & CEO
Nike

From:
Bishop Aubrey Shines, Rev. Marlin Reid, Rev. Derek McCoy, and Pastor Francisco Vega
Conservative Clergy of Color
Tampa, Florida

Date: September 3, 2020

Dear Mr. Donahoe,

We the leaders of Conservative Clergy of Color have watched with sadness and frustration as the
country we love has been torn apart by violence and looting. This civil terror, perpetrated and
lead by the Black Lives Matter movement, has turned American against American and possibly
set race relations back decades.

Black Lives Matter, a movement run by anti-Christian, self-proclaimed Marxists, hijacked

legitimate calls for police reform and turned it to their own ends. This is not a group interested in
constructive change; through their vicious campaign to defund police and silence anyone who
disagrees with them, they have destroyed livelihoods and gotten innocent children killed. It is
antithetical to the nonviolence that Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement stood for.

You and your company have helped fan the flames of this unrest by caving to support Black
Lives Matter and promising financial support to their allies. You have given Black Lives Matter
a platform, and as such, have contributed to the chaos that is tearing apart every major city in our
country. You are culpable in the violence that has wronged so many innocents in the name of
“the revolution.”
And while you have made such a show of virtue signaling against oppression here, you and your
company have willfully ignored real suffering and oppression abroad. At this very moment,
millions of ethnic Uighurs are languishing in “reeducation” camps in western China. They are
rounded up for being a minority and forbidden from practicing their faith while being forced to
work as slaves in factories. These factories make products for your company that are worn and
promoted by dozens of players in various athletic leagues. Yet while this atrocity plays out at the
hands of the Communist Chinese government, you have been silent.

You have been happy to play into the hands of anarchists at home and ignore slavery abroad. As
leaders in the church, we can abide neither.

We demand that you immediately sever all business ties with China and acknowledge the
suffering of the Uighur people. We demand you end your support to the violent Black Lives
Matter movement and any affiliated causes. We ask you take a hard look at real injustice in the
world and to remember that change comes through forgiveness and compassion, not violence.

As pastors, we are not here to “cancel” you, as is the popular thing these days. In fact, we are
firm believers in sensible, civic dialogue. We would like to extend the hand of Christian
fraternity and offer to meet with you one on one to discuss these important matters and this
crucial period in our country’s history. If there’s one thing we can agree on as a start, it’s that
this is indeed a crucial moment.

We hope to sit down with you and engage in a spirited, respectful debate. Our goal is to heal, not
to widen existing wounds. Between human wisdom and God’s help, we fully believe we can
solve our problems here and in the wider world together.

In Christ,

Bishop Aubrey Shines

Pastor Francisco Vega
Rev. Derek McCoy
Rev. Marlin Reid