Dear Homeplistic Community,
On June 4th I wrote a letter to Homeplistic’s Instagram followers detailing how my team and I had made the decision to be muted for a week in order to leave space for what matters and to listen, learn, and support. When I posted this, I thought a week with my team spent solely on educating ourselves about racial injustice and how Homeplistic could support the Black Lives Matter Movement was going to be plenty of time, but as you see… over 2 weeks later, it definitely was not. The truth is, part of what I’ve learned during this time is you can’t put a timeline on educating yourself around racial discrimination or any other important subject for that matter. And beyond that, I also feel that activism is something that shouldn’t stop after such a short time. While my passion for home decor is strong, my love and passion for making a difference and helping others is stronger. When founding Homeplistic, I knew that I wanted to be able to make a positive change. Whether it was by making someone’s house feel like home, donating to nonprofits, or collaborating with others. I am so grateful for all of the connections I have made in such a short time through Homeplistic and believe that my team and I should not only use our platform to inspire others, but also to make a commitment and an impact.
Since the start of our research, my team and I have found many racial justice nonprofits that we love and believe are making a real impact. So after selecting the ones we wanted to donate to specifically, we wanted our next step to involve our customers in the donations as well. To start, I was so inspired by Maya Angelou’s quote, “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color”, that I created a tapestry collection for the site and until August 1st, 100% of profits from this collection will go towards one of the racial justice nonprofits from our collection that you pick. Additionally, with any purchase you make at Homeplistic, 5% of all profits made will be donated to the charity of your choice as well or split among the 10 the Homeplistic team have chosen. And finally, we will also match all additional donations you give dollar for dollar up to $100.
All the nonprofits we have selected focus on the Black Lives Matter Movement and similar issues involving racial justice. It was incredibly hard choosing which organizations to donate to because there are so many important causes out there. We hope to add more opportunities on our site so Homeplistic and its community can continue to support people and issues across the world. Below you can read more about these 10 amazing non-profits we picked that you can choose to donate to at the checkout. Make sure to follow along on our Instagram stories where over the next week I will be sharing the podcast, books, artists, designers, and accounts that we found while being muted. And as always, I love to hear your ideas! And lastly, I wanted to make it clear to the Homeplistic community that my team and I stand against discrimination of any kind. We support not only our followers and customers but all people. I promise to always use this platform to speak up against injustice, protect everyone in our community, and be on the right side of history for every issue that matters. I am still learning and growing personally and with Homeplistic as a brand so if you have any ideas or suggestions around this topic or any other, don’t hesitate to reach out by Instagram, email, or contact me on the site!
Sincerely,
Makenna Jordan
Founder of Homeplistic
Black Lives Matter is a chapter-based, international organization whose goal is to create a world where violence is no longer inflicted on Black people. Specifically, that means “[eradicating] white supremacy and [building] local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes”. By achieving these goals, they are building a space for Black innovation, happiness, and imagination while making massive positive changes to their lives and to others’.
Photo via Black Lives Matter
Color Of Change helps people respond and take action against injustice. “As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people, and all people. Until justice is real.” On their website, you can see previous campaigns, recent victories, and even create a campaign of your own. It is free to become a Color of Change member and by joining you will receive online actions and in-person events you can join to stand up for racial justice.
Photo via Color of Change, FB
The Loveland foundation was established in 2018 by Rachel Cargle, and is committed to supporting communities of color with a focus on Black women and girls. They have different ways you can donate to their foundation. You can contribute to their campaign of providing women with financial support for therapy sessions, start a giving circle, become an advocate and start a fundraiser, or being a small business or corporate match. We also love their Instagram which is filled with empowering quotes and images.
Photo via The Loveland Foundation, FB
Know Your Rights Camp was founded by famous football quarterback Colin Kaepernick because he and so many others who supported him had a mission to “advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.” Kaepernick started the camp to teach young racial minorities their rights when facing discrimination from the police, but it has evolved into teaching them how to thrive in their lives and overcome the discrimination they face. You can read more, learn about their camps, and also watch the inspirational story here.
Photo via Know Your Rights Camp
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909 and is America’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was founded with the goal of ensuring political, educational, social, and economic rights for all people. Their aspiration is to end racial discrimination and establish the well-being and health of all people. They are the nation’s largest civil rights organization and make it so easy to take action on their website. They also have an abundance of resources on how to help and make a difference.
Photo via NAACP, FB
The #SayHerName Campaign started in 2014 by The African American Policy Forum (AAPF) to bring attention to the “often invisible” names and stories of Black women and girls who have subject to police violence and systemic issues. “To lift up their stories, and illuminate police violence against Black women, we need to know who they are, how they lived, and why they suffered at the hands of police.” By donating to AAPF you are supporting their mission of advocacy, activism, and police reform initiatives.
Photo via AAPF
The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, was founded by a small group of people a few years after World War I in the midst of several severe abuses of the public’s civil liberties in order to help protect them. Since then the ACLU has evolved into a massive organization with the goal of protecting rights enshrined in the United States Constitution for all citizens. Some highlights of what they’ve worked on and what they fight for are Brown v. Board of Education, reproductive rights, keeping America safe and free, equal treatment for lesbians and gay men, and Tinker v. Des Moines. 2020 marks its centennial year of service to the American people.
Photo via ACLU
Black Girls Code is a nonprofit organization founded by Kimberly Bryant in April 2011 that works with black girls ages 7-17 to empower them to become innovators in STEM. They create workshops in several underrepresented communities to teach computer coding lessons to young women. They say their ultimate goal is “to provide African-American youth with the skills to occupy some of the 1.4 million computing job openings expected to be available in the U.S. by 2020, and to train 1 million girls by 2040.” We are inspired by their mission and believe in the amazing young girls they are working so hard to help.
Photo via Black Girls Code, FB
Common Ground Foundation is a resource for students from low-socioeconomic areas of Chicago that need extra support in their life. Their mission is best described by the founder, Rashid Lynn Jr., otherwise known as Common, himself. People at the foundation work to “empower high school students from under-served communities to become future leaders. Our programs focus on character development, social impact, healthy living, technology, financial literacy, creative arts, and global leadership.” They give high school students support and opportunities to live a better life.
Photo via Common Ground Foundation
Black Women’s Blueprint fights to create a world where women and girls of African descent can live free of gender, race, and other disparities. They “engage in progressive research, historical documentation, policy advocacy, and organizing steeped in the struggles of Black women within their diverse communities and within dominant culture.” Some focuses of their work include supporting female and youth leadership, ending sexual and domestic violence, bringing services to communities, and gaining better reproductive and maternal healthcare. They have a wide variety of ways to join and support their cause as well.
Photo via Black Women's Blueprint
