One of the best life lessons that 2020 has reminded us repeatedly, is to be thankful for what you have. Whether that is being and staying healthy, having job security, and loved ones that keep us grounded, we are two extremely fortunate women. While we always knew that we have privilege, we really had no idea the extent of which the color of our skin has afforded us such a comfortable life – even if that means truly wrapping our head around the fact that we understand we will never understand. Another one of those oft-repeated lessons is centered around silence and it being golden, especially when you are not sure what to say. It turned out the best thing we could do was just listen, and the more we listened, the more blogging about clothing seemed irrelevant – and quite frankly, inappropriate.
We could get into what we are doing on a personal level to help make the world a better place for BIPOC, but according to our analytics, our audience is comprised of rather educated, informed, and engaged women, from a variety of races. Basically, you don’t need our help. We are happy to make suggestions on ways to use your time, talent, and/or treasure to support the causes you are passionate about because this is related to what both of us have built our careers on. Jennifer, in particular, has worked for state and local governments, as well as policy making and advocacy, so please let us know if this is something you would like to see more of in her career column. But we are nowhere near experts on BIPOC issues and more than welcome any resources you think are valuable as we learn what it means to be true allies.
Prior to this, we have had our reasons to be concerned with diversity, or the lack thereof, both personally and professionally. From the very beginning, we wanted to use whatever platform we were given and any audience we grew, to showcase women (and the occasional man) of color, body type, sexual orientation, etc. We want our blog to reflect the world we live in and the world we live in is made up of so many beautiful faces and diverse voices.
Before we get back to business as usual, we did want to share a roundup of handy links in the creative realm, from clothing to beauty and wellness to art:
Etsy Shops
Black-Owned Etsy Shops from The Mad Mommy
Queer Black-Owned Etsy Shops from SuperMaker.com
Beauty
Beauty Bakerie
Art
Black Photographers from SeeInBlack.com
Supporting Black Artists and Businesses from BlackinAmerica.com
Creative Products
Black Owned Creative Business from MyModernMet.com
Black Artists to Follow by PopSugar.com
Health and Wellness
Golde
Black Owned Wellness Businesses from WellandGood.com
Clothing, Jewelry, Home Goods
Sika Designs
51 Black Owned Clothing Brands from Cosmopolitan
Black Owned Jewelry Lines from TheEveryGirl.com
Black-Owned Businesses
SupportBlackOwned.com – This website has been called the “search engine for Black-owned businesses”. It is a simple resource to find different types of businesses, explore some of their product offerings, or visit the business website.
We have missed posting to AFL these past few weeks but are glad we took the time to reflect and reconnect with our IRL family, friends, and community (in a socially distanced way, of course), and we look forward to reconnecting with the amazing women we have found on our blog and social media. Another lesson reminder that it is always ok to press pause.
These pics are both a look at what we’ve been up to during our pause, as well as a sneak-peek into future posts.
Images by Breezy Ritter