OUR COMMITMENT TO RACIAL JUSTICE
Floral Frogs

To our Bloomist Community 

We’re a small team that fervently believes in human rights, and the past year has shaken us to our core. We are horrified by the continued evidence of the systemic racism and rampant loss of life that has led our country to this place. We support the Black Lives Matter movement, and we stand in solidarity with the individuals who demand justice and accountability from law enforcement. We reject white supremacy and ingrained racist attitudes that have been endemic in our society and institutions for centuries leading up to this seminal, historic moment. 

Like countless others, we find the killings of innocent Black women and men repugnant and impossible to ignore. We are determined to do what we can to help effect the systemic change that’s been way too long coming. For a small company like ours, this seems like an overwhelming task. We don’t pretend to have the answers, but we intend to be part of the solution. Small steps make a big impact, and we passionately believe that everyone can make a difference.

WHAT WE DO AS A BRAND

Six months ago, we set some specific short-term goals around how we planned to diversify, amplify, and donate, and committed to reporting back to you. Here is our update on our progress so far and next steps. We recognize that this work will be ongoing and plan to hold ourselves accountable. As always, we welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

DIVERSIFYING

Our company strives to create a culturally and racially diverse mix of employees, makers, and partners around the world, but we think we can do more. While our team of 13 is culturally and ethnically diverse we could be a more racially varied group. Toward that end we’ll be offering paid internship positions in the near future and will prioritize hiring BIPOC for those openings. We’ll team up with Black Girls Code to recruit and establish a paid internship this summer. (Black Girls Code introduces computer coding lessons to young girls from underrepresented communities.) And we will prioritize developing collections with BIPOC creatives and makers. To support this intent, we will take the fifteen percent pledge and set goals to ensure that 15% of our maker base is made up of BIPOC suppliers. The fifteen percent pledge reflects the fact that almost 15% of the population is Black and calls on retailers to commit a minimum of 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses.

DIVERSIFYING

Our company strives to create a culturally and racially diverse mix of employees, makers, and partners around the world, but we think we can do more. While our team of 13 is culturally and ethnically diverse we could be a more racially varied group. Toward that end we’ll be offering paid internship positions in the near future and will prioritize hiring BIPOC for those openings. We’ll team up with Black Girls Code to recruit and establish a paid internship this summer. (Black Girls Code introduces computer coding lessons to young girls from underrepresented communities.) And we will prioritize developing collections with BIPOC creatives and makers. To support this intent, we will take the fifteen percent pledge and set goals to ensure that 15% of our maker base is made up of BIPOC suppliers. The fifteen percent pledge reflects the fact that almost 15% of the population is Black and calls on retailers to commit a minimum of 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses.

AMPLIFYING

We recognize how systemic racism plays out in business and within the design sector at large. We will use our platforms to help elevate, celebrate, and amplify the work of BIPOC creatives who inspire us. For the month of February, we are hosting Share the Mic Now events with Maryah Greene, Tiffany Griffin, Alyson Morgan of Alyson Simply Grows, and Tracie Hervy. We will continue to use our Journals to feature the work of our collaborators including Maryah Greene, Hilton Carter, and Tiffany Griffin. Please scroll down to “SHOP BLACK” to find an ever- growing list of BIPOC makers, designers, plant experts and Black brands we love.

DONATING

Last summer we chose to support The Justice Committee, a small, local grassroots organization dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. Since then, the pandemic has laid bare many inequities as a result of our systemic racism. Amongst these is the challenge of Food Sovereignty and the issue regarding lack of access to nutritious food within low-income communities of color. As part of our ongoing commitment to equality and the environment, we will donate $2,000 to Rise and Root Farm. Rise and Root is a local, all-women farming group that’s dedicated to building a strong, equitable food economy. Our donation also honors the farm’s founder, Karen Washington, an established leader in food justice advocacy.

This month, we’re hosting Share the Mic Now events with 4 Black women and will donate $500 to each collaborator’s chosen charity.
Maryah of Greene Piece is giving to Kid Power DC
Tiffany of Bright Black Candles is giving to Triangle Land Conservancy
Tracie of Tracie Hervy Ceramics is giving to Bronx Documentary Center
Alyson of Alyson Simply Grows is giving to Planting Justice

We support and applaud the work Black Interior Designers Network is doing to combat racial inequity in the design space. We’ve donated to their fundraising campaign and will continue to support them.

DONATING

Last summer we chose to support The Justice Committee, a small, local grassroots organization dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. Since then, the pandemic has laid bare many inequities as a result of our systemic racism. Amongst these is the challenge of Food Sovereignty and the issue regarding lack of access to nutritious food within low-income communities of color. As part of our ongoing commitment to equality and the environment, we will donate $2,000 to Rise and Root Farm. Rise and Root is a local, all-women farming group that’s dedicated to building a strong, equitable food economy. Our donation also honors the farm’s founder, Karen Washington, an established leader in food justice advocacy.

This month, we’re hosting Share the Mic Now events with 4 Black women and will donate $500 to each collaborator’s chosen charity.
Maryah of Greene Piece is giving to Kid Power DC
Tiffany of Bright Black Candles is giving to Triangle Land Conservancy
Tracie of Tracie Hervy Ceramics is giving to Bronx Documentary Center
Alyson of Alyson Simply Grows is giving to Planting Justice

We support and applaud the work Black Interior Designers Network is doing to combat racial inequity in the design space. We’ve donated to their fundraising campaign and will continue to support them.

WHAT WE WILL DO AS INDIVIDUALS

Each of us plays a different role to bring about change, from donating, listening, protesting, learning and unlearning, and sharing, to calling on our representatives to demand reform. We believe that by working together we can help make a big impact.

RESOURCES

Some of our recommended resources are:

SUPPORT

LEARN

FOLLOW

SHOP BLACK

We support the #BUYBLACK initiative and have curated an ever-growing list of favorite Black creatives and resources below. We will continue to build on this list. Please follow these creators on Instagram. Share, comment, and like their posts, and most importantly support them by buying their products or services wherever and whenever you can.

MAKERS + SHOPS

GARDENERS + FLORISTS

SMALL STEPS, WORKING TOGETHER TO HELP CREATE BIG IMPACT.