We’re a small team that fervently believes in human rights, and the news erupting from all over the country these past few weeks has shaken us to our core. We are horrified by 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 protesters and with the individuals who demand justice and accountability from law enforcement. We do not accept aggressive brutal police tactics. 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.
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WHAT WE WILL DO AS A BRAND
Here are a few of the next steps that we are committing to today. We recognize that this work will be ongoing and plan to hold ourselves accountable. We will give you an update of our objectives and accomplishments six months from now and welcome your thoughts and suggestions. DONATE
We have chosen to support a small, local grassroots organization dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City with financial contributions to Justice Committee. We also recommend donations to national organizations actively working to combat racial injustice and protect civil rights: Blacklivesmatter.com, (@blklivesmatter), naacpldf.org (@naacp_ldf), aclu.org (@aclu_nationwide), colorofchange.org (@colorofchange), The Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter), Innocenceproject.org (@innocenceproject) DIVERSIFY
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. We will prioritize developing collections with Black and Brown creatives and makers and we will continue to consciously work toward building a more diverse body of influencers and collaborators. While our team of eleven is culturally and ethnically diverse, we don’t feel that our staff is as racially diverse as it could be; we will be opening up more paid internship positions in the near future and will prioritize hiring BIPOC for those openings. We are committed to actionable ways to create an anti-racist culture, starting with our own workplace. We will share our detailed strategy for this as we make progress and share our accomplishments in our next update.
Some of our recommended resources are: AMPLIFY
Additionally, we will use our platforms to help elevate and celebrate the work of Black creatives, designers, collaborators, makers, and those who inspire us. We applaud and support our industry’s initiatives to help right the in-balance of opportunities for black designers and makers like the new Black Interior Designers Network fundraising campaign and Shoppe Object’s initiative in support of black makers. WHAT WE WILL DO AS INDIVIDUALS
There is a different role for each of us to play individually in helping bring about change; from protesting, donating, listening, learning and unlearning, and sharing, to calling our representatives to demand reform. We believe in the power of voting and will share information to help educate ourselves on all political candidates, up and down the ballot. While federal elections are important, we believe that local and state positions are where equitable policy begins. Small steps, working together to help create big impact. |