Our Promise Moving Forward

I know my personal silence has been deafening on the situation that recently impacted so many people including the supporters and staff of The North Star. From its beginning, I weighed my personal responsibility of speaking out on the matter with the potential damage that doing so could cause both The North Star and all of you counting on us. Personally, I have never swayed in my belief that we must consistently tell the truth — even when most inconvenient.

My decision to address it now comes from the opportunity I had to speak with Clarissa Brooks and to offer her our unequivocal apology. My conversation with her reaffirmed why I wanted to rebuild The North Star to begin with: every single voice matters. That is the core of who we are.

What we are building at The North Star is important to each of us as individuals and to all of us as a community. The North Star represents the visionary prospect of a media network that will amplify the often-silenced voices and the stories that are too often untold. A paramount part of our mission must be to always selflessly care for this community and to always model the best practices in conflict resolution when we disagree. Above all, we must always seek opportunities for reconciliation with those who should be first seen as comrades and not adversaries.

In this fight for justice, we have very real adversaries who require fierce opposition and formidable resistance. When I see Clarissa, I, and certainly The North Star, have never and will never see an adversary. We see a brilliant and dedicated comrade in this fight for justice with the potential to leave an indelible mark on the movement. When I had the privilege to speak with her about this incident, it only confirmed how much she and so many others like her should be the very voices we amplify and not silence. My only hope is that she will be able to see The North Star as an ally in this fight for justice.

As co-founder of The North Star, I now offer my personal pledge to you:

I give you my personal promise that The North Star will serve vulnerable communities and take special care so that any incident similar to this situation or that goes against the mission set forth for The North Star will never happen again. I also promise to continue speaking the truth at all times.

To that end, Shaun and I have spoken extensively about this incident, and he has apologized for the backlash that the North Star team and staff have received. Shaun’s work and contribution to rebuilding The North Star have been vital and we will continue that vision.

To our 16,000+ subscribers, we thank you for your support and we look forward to providing you the opportunity to listen and be heard. We depend on all of you to help us create this vital platform, and we are grateful to you for putting your faith in us. Without you, none of this would be possible.

We will continue to work around the clock together to make it a reality and to do justice by the name and legacy of “The North Star.”

In Solidarity,

​​​​​​​Benjamin Dixon
Cofounder
The North Star News Group

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