New Age Slavery
Transitioning my home from new age slavery.
It’s a journey...a lifetime journey.
Since my home is my sanctuary I can’t have it filled with products produced from new age slave labor. That’s right...there’s current day slavery happening in front of our very eyes.
New age slavery.
New age slavery is using black minds to build white wealth.
New age slavery is the fact that there are biasis in hiring and promoting practices.
New age slavery is the fact that black owned businesses don’t receive the same opportunities related to start up capital thus cannot afford to grow and/or outsource production at the same rate as white owned businesses.
New age slavery is the fact that black employees are paid less for their time, talent, and ideas that essentially lead to white generatioanl wealth.
New age slavery is the systemic oppresions blocking resources from black creatives and entrepenuers.
New age slavery is a symptom of a systmic racist system that which I can no longer support.
New age slavery is the fact that I have to apply for a promotion at work and in the same month 3 white women receive an equivalent promotion and title change without months of doing dual roles and a rigorous internal application process.
New age slavery is the fact that my employer uses different promotional pracitices with me as opposed to my white, female colleagues of the same age with similar experience and expertise.
New age slavery is alive and well…all around us.
So how do I choose to fight new age slavery?
I’m fighting with my DOLLAR!
And this fight...yea, this fight is exhausting. But it’s worth it.
Over the past few weeks I have pledged to myself to stop supporting new age slavery by doing the following:
I will first seek out black owned businesses to purchase everyday items.
I will second seek out businesses who have publicly pledged a donation to a black led nonprofit, committed time to undo their past racist wrongs, promoted black owned businesses in their industry and/or any combination of these. Hint...a black square does not get you my dollar!
I have written my local grocery store requesting a black owned section.
I am now tagging my bank account transactions with black owned so that I can compare and quantitatively see the shift in my spending habits. Sadly and admittedly I was at a very low percentage of everyday spending from black owned businesses. Through research and thoughtfulness I can now use my funds to support the growth and prosperity of black owned businesses.
I am removing companies that do not embody these values from my social media streams thus removing the temptation to shop with them.
Why am I doing this?
Because it’s not enough to buy from black owned businesses...we need to suffocate businesses benefiting from new age slavery...those businesses deserve consequences, financial consequences for their participation and blatant discremintiroy actions against black people.
Because I don’t need to break my budget to make room for products from black owned businesses...but rather I need to shift my everyday spending from new age slavery products to black creativity products. For example, why buy toilet paper from Amazon, Target or Walmart when there are multiple BLACK OWNED vendors online who deliver in a couple of days? We all know when we’re going to run out of toilet paper...just do the work and order it a little earlier...put a reminder in your google calendar if you have to. It’s that EASY. Fighting oppression is easier than you think if you just pause, reflect and get creative about using the resources you have in a meaningful way.
Today is July 16, 2020...and I have now successfully switched over the following:
Paper towels, deodorant & body wash - thank you Trans Taylor for being a centralized place to everyday home supplies from black business & for your stellar customer service and quick shipping.
Dish soap - thank you PUR home for your variety of scents and transparent customer service.
House plant - thank you Grounded for supporting newbie plant parents w/ your fabulous customer service and quick shipping.
Wine - thank you McBride Sisters & your fabulous online retail location map making it easy for me to find your wine all around town.
Art - thank you Nikkey Creative for my prayer queen piece which looks over and inspires me daily.
Books - thank you Semicolon book store for selling online and providing a space for readers to gather and grow together.
And I’m waiting for the following to run out so I can switch them too:
Face wash - thank you @blackderm for sharing so many options
Tooth paste - looking forward to purchasing from you Trans Taylor
Hair Care - looking forward to purchasing from you blk+grn and TGIN
Toilet paper - looking forward to purchasing from you Trans Taylor and Reel Paper
This journey has just begun. And it won’t be easy. But it’ll be worth it. I can’t wait till the day I check my account and see 50% or more of my spending went to black owned businesses instead of new age slave labor companies.
When I think about this journey I remember young, college me. I longed to have more black, female role models surround me…in my home. I didn’t realize that’s what I longed for…but I know I did. I know I did b/c of the art project my mother helped me with. We found a book with stories and photos of black women who’d paved the way. And from that book we made the art that still hangs on my apartment walls today. The art displayed in the cover photo of this post. My mother knew I needed a variety of queens looking over me - so she made it happen. It was always our little joke b/c when a white person visited my apartment they’d say “you have such a beautiful family” or “are those family portraits? Literally, they thought every black person was my family when really they didn’t even recognize Oprah, Cicely Tyson, Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks.