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In 2020, Aurora James shook up the business world with a disruptive idea. As previously reported by AfroTech, the designer founded the Fifteen Percent Pledge following the murder of George Floyd to demand corporations to commit 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. Now, nearly three years later, it appears that James’ call for action has paid off.
The digital landscape continues to evolve with new innovative ways of marketing, advertising and branding for businesses. While Black business owners’ imitable creativity marks them as trendsetters in their respective markets, lack of access to essential digital tools keeps them a few steps behind when it comes to their businesses’ online presence. To improve that, the Fifteen Percent Pledge and Google Shopping have recently joined forces for a two-year partnership to help place Black entrepreneurs ahead of the curve. The Fifteen Percent Pledge, founded by fashion designer Aurora James in June 2020, is a nonprofit that pushes for major retailers to pledge 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. As Google Shopping is committed to Black businesses within its own company mission, the tech giant is now backing the organization in its Business Equity Community — an online, networking platform that will provide Black business owners access to digital tools, training and...
Several corporations are standing in solidarity in the fight for racial justice with an outpouring of copy-and-paste #BlackLivesMatter statements and million-dollar donations. Other major retailers are committing to yielding long-lasting, impactful change in Black youth communities . On May 29, Brother Vellies founder Aurora James called for major retailers to sell a greater percentage of Black-owned products as a step in the fight toward economic equality. “So many of your businesses are built on Black spending power. So many of your stores are set up in Black communities,” James’s Instagram proposal reads. “This is the least you can do for us. We represent 15% of the population and we need to represent 15% of your shelf space.” A week later, at the urging of James, Sephora pledged to devote 15 percent of its shelf space to Black-owned products, The New York Times reports . View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aurora James 🦢 (@aurorajames) In addition, Sephora will create...