Black Simmers have been part of The Sims franchise since the beginning. Many of us have played different Sims games in The Sims where we're able to see ourselves in our sims, the music, and the clothing, like in The Urbz: Sims in the City. The Sims franchise has existed for over 22 years, since February 4th, 2000. It's time for The Sims next step in evolution: being inclusive to its Black Simmers by using actions, not words.

During the first "Behind The Sims Summit" on October, 18th, 2022, many Black Simmers were blatantly left out of the conversation. Out of dozens of simmers shown, only 2 Black simmers were mentioned/shown on screen. Many Black Simmers have been creating custom content, video content, mods, animations, and much more for The Sims 4 since it's launch on September 2nd, 2014. There are countless number of Black Simmers to celebrate and showcase. The fact that The Sims team failed to do so during such an important event shows the lack of care they've consistently shown for Black Simmers within this community.

Black Simmers' content consistently goes viral on popular social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more. These viral moments bring more attention and sales to EA and the Sims 4 game: free of charge. We understand that not all content can be shared by the Sims team. However, Black Simmers deserve to be acknowledge as consistently as every other Simmer within the Simming community has been by The Sims team.

Moving forward, Black Simmers want EA and The Sims team to put their money where their words have been. We need more representation in game and behind the scenes. These are the things we need from The Sims franchise moving forward:

1. Promote more Black custom content (CC) and video creators throughout the year, not just during Black History Month
   • Alpha CC and Maxis Match CC
   • Create a branded disclaimer that CC is being used in any content that's shared or reposted if need be
   • Showcase popular Black Simmers' YouTube, Twitch, and social media accounts on The Sims pages
2. Hire 4 Black Sim Gurus
   • The African disapora is vast and diverse. One or two Black people can not speak for the entire Black race
   • Having more Black people on The Sims guru teams is a great way to avoid cultural bias and acknowledge/celebrate Black culture within the gaming community year round 
3. Collaborate with more Black Simmers to create Black Sims content (CAS, Food, Builds, Animations, etc.)
   • Ebonix, Xmiramira, and Complex Sims are a few names that come to mind that have done amazing Sims collaborations in the past that promoted Black diversity in the Sims 4 game
   • Reach out to Alpha and Maxis Match creators. Custom content is custom content, The Sims is played in many different ways and all ways need to be showcased

Black Simmers deserve to feel represented and acknowledged in a game that many of us have spent years supporting financially and creatively. Before moving to focus on Project Rene, focus on the simmers you have in front of you that deserve to feel like a part of this community. And stand up for what's right when Black Simmers are attacked by racist or bigoted Simmers online by using your actions to show your support. Nice words will only get us so far in this world and it's 2022. It's time for us to move forward as a Simming community and embrace, represent, and acknowledge Black Simmers' contributions to The Sims 4.