Posted on 03/07/2021 7:23:25 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Aurora James was frustrated when she would go to stores and see a lack of Black-owned brands on shelves. It was out of that frustration that the fashion designer decided she needed to be a part of the solution by disrupting business as usual.
"I was so fed up as a woman and a woman of color, being disappointed by the choices that people or companies were making. But I also realized that I failed in a lot of ways to really ask for what I needed," James told CBS News' Michelle Miller.
In the aftermath of George Floyd's killing, she took to Instagram and demanded major retailers commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands, creating the initiative the "15 Percent Pledge." "Black people in the U.S. make up nearly 15% of the population," its website says.
According to a report conducted last June by the National Bureau of Economic Research, 41% percent of Black-owned businesses have closed due to the pandemic compared to less than 17% of White-owned businesses.
To date, more than 20 companies have signed on for James' "15 Percent Pledge" across the retail spectrum. Companies are asked to conduct an internal audit of their current spending power and contracts allocated to Black businesses, along with committing shelf space.
For James, the creation of the "15 Percent Pledge" was about making a difference.
"When we talk about supporting small businesses and we talk about supporting small, Black-owned businesses in this country, what that really means is supporting underprivileged communities that need it the most. And it's important for everyone to understand that the 15 Percent Pledge isn't just about positively impacting Black people, it's about positively impacting the country at whole," James said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Please publish the list of all those that sign on so that I can avoid shopping there.
And if they did put black owned business products out, would they have to put them behind lock and key to keep them from being stolen?
I remember the reports on how Walmart had to lock up black hair care products. Because Whitey.
To deal with this stupid crap, we should all just self identify as black.
Also please publish the list of black owned business that make and produce the 15 percent of products that even blacks want to buy.
I’ll wait.
Another shakedown scam artist like the ones the want companies to do “inherent bias” training. If they don’t, they called out as being racist.
After all, I wouldn't want to "accidentally" divert my shopping-dollar to some item belonging to a White-owned brand, now would I?
I assume that this segregation of brands would extend through all product categories, too - right?
Steel-belted tires, bags of fertilizer, kitty litter, push lawn mowers, garden furniture, kids' bicycles, pet food, back-to-school supplies, etc.
There should be absolutely no difficulty in stocking 15% of EACH shelf with Black-owned brands, right?
Regards,
Ya, I did that with my preference in Scotch.....(JWB)
Sicilians have African DNA. Just saying.
No mention of quality or market demand - just put 15% on your shelves, or else.
Did you think it would stop at Amazon promoting black-owned businesses? No. Once “affirmative action” was started, the number of special race-based privileges grew rapidly. Minority setasides. Preference in government contracting with black-owned businesses. Free college. Test scores bumped up.
Do you think it will end with reparations? nooooo! That will be only the beginning! It will end one day. When all of Whitey’s money is gone and Whitey too. But even then, they will be blaming long-gone Whitey for all the troubles in the world.
Does this dolt know how the grocery business works and how expensive it is to get one item on the shelve?
Be nice if items on shelves were,say, 80% American made, and 15% of those were made by black Americans.
The American part matters far more to me than the black part, and American worker part more than the ownership part.
Yes. And, these brands should definitely be listed.
You know....so we can, um, patronize them ;-)
Just like they have to inflate the lgbtqlmnop numbers.
Fake news all around.
I’ve always wanted to dress like I was from Zamunda but I think I might be too white to pull it off.
Maybe they can bring back the Jheri Curl.
Make a good product and we’ll but it.
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