Photo: Virisa Yong/BFA.com/BFA for 15% Pledge
Well before Donald Trump returned to the White House and immediately signed an executive order slashing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government, multiple retailers and brands had begun scaling back — or outright axed — their own DEI programs. Walmart did not renew a five-year commitment for an equity racial center and pulled out of the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, while Target backpedalled on its three-year DEI goals and Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives just days after Trump’s inauguration.
A number of companies had launched DEI programs in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which is when Brother Vellies founder Aurora James organized the 15 Percent Pledge, a racial equity and economic justice nonprofit encouraging retailers to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands. Since its inception, more than 28 retailers have taken the pledge (including Sephora, Nordstrom, Macy’s and more) and $14 billion in revenue has gone to Black-owned brands. On Saturday, the organization hosted its fourth annual gala in Los Angeles, where it awarded $400,000 in grants to Black-owned businesses. Its impact over the last five years cannot be understated.
“At the end of the day, the 15 Percent Pledge has really been a game changer in the American economic landscape,” James tells Fashionista. “It’s one of the largest drivers of capital for Black-owned businesses that’s ever existed in this country, and that helps everyone. When we talk about what it means to make America great, I think that that means supporting and boosting small businesses.”
As companies like Target and Walmart walk back their DEI programs amid conservative activism and political tension, some activists are calling for boycotts against such retailers, while some brand founders are encouraging shoppers to exclusively buy from Black-owned businesses. James, who has been at the forefront of the push for better representation on retailers’ shelves, encourages “shopping with your values.”
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“There’s lots of ways to support brands that sit outside of shopping,” she adds. “We’re in an attention economy, so following people on Instagram, liking their content, sharing their content, being supportive in general. The places that we give our attention to right now are the places that will grow, and so continuing to double down in your own community and share joy and creativity and things that inspire you, whatever your value set is, that’s really where it’s at.”
Ahead, James shares her insights into the recent slashes to retail DEI programs, how these programs can actually benefit retailers’ businesses, her advice for Black-owned brands navigating the shifting retail environment, how consumers can support small businesses and more.
What message do DEI rollbacks at Target, Walmart, etc. send to Black-owned brands stocked at these retailers?
I think that the message that it’s sending to Black-owned brands is that they don’t have a value and those specific retailers no longer feel compelled to invest in them. I think Black-owned businesses and the message that they’re receiving is one thing, and that’s really awful, but I think also at large, it’s sending a message to Black consumers, white consumers, all consumers that Target and Walmart are really uninterested in a values alignment.
Over the past two years, we really haven’t seen any change in the data. We still know that consumers are more interested in shopping with their values than ever before. […] So rolling back inclusion of all kinds at a time when consumers actually care even more about it, from a shopping perspective and a budget allocation perspective, is very bizarre.
How can DEI programs and similar initiatives benefit companies and retailers as well as Black-owned brands?
You’ve heard the saying before that talent is distributed equally, but opportunity and access is not, right? I don’t think that anyone can argue that Danessa Myricks isn’t an extremely talented founder and makeup artist and product development person across the board, regardless of the color of her skin, and if it weren’t for the Accelerate program that we worked with Sephora on at the Pledge, she wouldn’t have had access to that shelf space. Now as a result, her business is thriving, yes, but consumers of all colors and genders are able to take advantage of these incredible products and actually use them, so it’s a better consumer experience.
I’ve always believed that the best businesses should have access to shelf space, and I think what the 15 Percent Pledge is really about is creating pipeline opportunities to make sure that people can have a shot at gaining access because I think anyone who’s had a small business understands that gaining access or having an opportunity at access is actually extremely hard.
In your opinion, what motivations could be behind retailers now choosing to halt or reduce DEI initiatives?
Racism.
How will these rollbacks affect Black-owned fashion and beauty brands on the shelves right now?
I think that some of the businesses are doing really well and the retailers are going to want to keep them there. Whether or not those brands still want to stock with Target or Walmart is a different question. I think that we’ve already seen some brands decide that they don’t want to sell at Target or Walmart anymore. I know, for me as a fashion designer, the last thing I would want to do right now would be a collaboration with Target. You couldn’t pay me enough money.
How do you see these rollbacks impacting future Black-owned brands from entering retailers in the first place?
I think that it’s going to impact all small businesses in America from entering Target and Walmart. I think that’s been an issue in general. They don’t want to stock small businesses. They just want to stock whatever other mass, huge manufactured item they can get. They would rather buy from Red Baron’s pizza than they would from any of these amazing small businesses across America that are selling way better pizza. I mean, does anyone think that Red Baron’s frozen pizza is the best pizza that’s available in America? No.
I think we made a lot of progress for small businesses with the 15 Percent Pledge. Obviously, Target and Walmart never committed, but if Target came to me and said, “We want to commit 15% of our shelf space to small business in America,” and just start there, I would work with them on that. But they don’t want to.
What about the implications of DEI rollbacks to retailers’ and brands’ hiring practices?
I think that top talent are not going to want to work at a company that feels like they’re under the thumb of this current administration. I think we’re going to see a lot of shifts there, for sure. It’s already really hard to recruit talent, and we all spend so much time working these days that working in an environment that we think is fundamentally out of alignment with our own values is not how people want to dedicate their lives and that doesn’t matter what color you are.
How can Black-owned brands navigate the current environment of DEI rollbacks to continue to grow and sustain their businesses?
They can continue building a relationship with customers directly and using alternative platforms to sell things. For me at Brother Vellies, we’ve always had a really strong direct-to-consumer business, and I’ve always really been particular about only having my customers go into places that I felt comfortable sending them into.
How have some of the 15 Percent Pledge’s retail partners responded to recent DEI rollbacks?
Sephora’s North American CEO got on stage at our fundraiser on Saturday and said they’re fully committed to doing all of this work still, so I think that that’s pretty indicative of the partners that we work with.
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What steps can consumers take to support the Black-owned brands currently stocked at retailers rolling back DEI initiatives, like Target and Walmart?
I think they should continue shopping with their values. I know for me, I went online and just bought up whatever was remaining of Ghetto Gastro products from the shelves at Target, because I doubt that they’re going to be back there. And they just wanted to make sure that Target understood that they had a lot of support, and now they’re going to have to stock more, whatever the hell they have, Aunt Jemima.
How can boycotts help or hinder the Black-owned brands stocked at these retailers?
In general, if you’re a brand that’s stocked somewhere, you do hope that you have good sell-through. So I think that people who are boycotting and not buying the products there, I’m hoping will double down and buy the products directly from Black-owned businesses, so that if these brands need to divest from Target or Walmart, they’ll have the resources in order to be able to do that.
I would hope that both Target and Walmart don’t try to do any chargebacks to these Black retailers because obviously any hit on their sell-through is a direct result of Target and Walmart’s decisions, versus the popularity of those brands. And I think that the brands should absolutely report publicly if Target or Walmart try to do any chargebacks.
What would you say to retailers that are stepping back from these DEI programs?
I think there is a way to do this work well, that it actually is great for the bottom line. I don’t think that [JPMorgan Chase CEO] Jamie Dimon would be endorsing inclusion work if it weren’t a profitable strategy. What I would also say is that a board of a company is not necessarily representative of the entire staff, and I know for a fact there are staff members at both of those companies that are really, really upset. What I would say is just continue doing what you do every day in service of those who have been historically excluded. An executive order cannot dictate what private companies decide to do.
When you look around the room at who was at that inauguration, a lot of those guys are not necessarily champions for mom-and-pop businesses. I think a lot of them have been responsible for a lot of closures of mom-and-pop businesses all across the country and I think that they’re continuing on that role because it’s what’s best for their shareholders. I think what’s best for those companies’ shareholders, Target and Walmart, isn’t what’s necessarily best for the American people and that is something that both Republicans and Democrats can agree on.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Source: Fashionista.com
