Pull Up or Shut Up
Imagine heavily supporting a brand or business that doesn’t care to even represent you. Imagine you buy from a brand or business that doesn’t support you or your people. During the past few weeks, the United States has been a fragile state. There has been protesting as well as the emergence of awareness. For years, black people have been underrepresented at almost all the brands that profit off of the black dollar. They said enough is enough.
A challenge has emerged on social media that challenged brands to expose the percentage of black employees that they house within a 72 hour period. Many brands have put out statements regarding the black lives matter movement, but the point of the challenge was to ensure that diversity is glorified and is not just a trend for the current movement. The founder stated, “We have to look at businesses and what role they play. They play a huge role in this problem we’re facing,” she said. “They’re saying, ‘I’m donating to Black Lives Matter and NAACP,’ and they move on...For me, it was really a time to say something’s got to give. The only way we’ll see change is if we take a conversation we’re having within the industry and take it out to the consumers.”
Businesses that profit off of the black dollar, as well as the appropriation of black culture, should start showing their support through their numbers. What better way to show support for black lives than to hire more black, qualified, employees.
Photo Credit: @pullupforchange
Report: Soila Douce (@soila.xx)
At the rise of Covid-19 many of us first questioned the timeline of fashion week and would we see the regular calendar continue - the question weighed over many of us for months! It was refreshing to see design houses and designers across the globe take advantage of the uncertainty and plow into production mode - thus my interest in Jerri Reid New York - The Black Designer based in Brooklyn New York wow’d instagram with his latest collection paying homage to the Black Is King film which debuted earlier this year in July. I was taken aback at quick of a turn round the young designer produced and released his well crafted designs reflecting some of the films most memorable moments.