Minneapolis — Today it was announced that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will be making a donation to a Minneapolis homeless shelter. In response, The Awood Center, Muslim Coalition of ISAIAH (MCI) and CAIR MN, the groups who have had two meetings with Amazon management (NYTimes Story), released the following statement.

“Amazon workers & the East African community in Minnesota have made clear to Amazon management in our meetings that while they are making billions of dollars in profit each year, their workers & our community are struggling. We are glad that Mr. Bezos seems to have heard our concerns and is making a donation to help address the homeless crisis in Minnesota. We believe this is a great first step in recognizing that rampant income inequality caused by corporations like Amazon is bad for the well-being of our communities. We know the wealth and power Amazon has, so we look forward to continuing to push them around our demands to support good jobs, reject bigotry, promote workers from their majority East African workforce and use their immense profits to start a community fund to address issues like the lack of affordable housing facing too many families in our city. We are excited to bring our demands to Amazon’s doorstep at our rally Friday in Shakopee and hope they will hear our voices.”