Dear Darling, 

"Growth and Comfort Don't Coexist." 

This past week has been deeply uncomfortable. But growth and comfort don't coexist. And we're choosing growth. The movement is happening now. What role will we play?

Take a Stand.

At Darling, we stand against all forms of racism and believe Black Lives Matter. This past week, we have been listening and learning, from the national conversation and within our team. We know real growth is a marathon, not a sprint, and while we continue to assess longterm goals and plans for Darling's brand, here are our immediate responses this week:

Choose to Engage in Conversation. 

Join us, The Darling Team, as we lean in to the uncomfortable conversations. This week, we are listening to The Kinswomen Podcast, episodes 1 & 2 about Racial Awareness & Allyship, and discussing together as a team. We will continue holding intentional space for our team as we build internal structures for this work.

We will continue to learn and grow together as a team, and hope to create avenues of conversation through Darling's social platforms in the coming weeks and months.

We hope you also, in community, create space for honest, authentic conversation. 

Use our Platform to Amplify BIPOC Voices.

This past week, we chose to #amplifymelanatedvoices, and silenced our own regular social content. We chose to share solely content from Black voices and to feature our own #darlingartisans Black makers on our shelves. We will continue to be intentional about how we use our platform every week, and every day, moving forward. We promise to amplify Black voices, art, and resources wherever, whenever. We will listen, learn, and lean on our community for accountability.

We have also implemented the #DarlingSharetheMic series on our social media, committing to regularly amplifying BIPOC voices in our community and beyond. You can follow the series here on our Instagram: Darling Share the Mic Series.

We signed the 15% Pledge.

Inspired by Aurora James and her call for major retailers to pledge 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses, we signed the petition and took the pledge for ourselves as a business.

We proudly support over 70 artisans in the shop, but with 7 Black makers currently, we are below 15% of our shelf space dedicated to Black-owned businesses. We have work to do. And we're focusing on this work in our vendors and in the marketing of our vendors.

Foster Diversity and Inclusion. 

It has always been the heart of Darling's brand to authentically represent in our marketing and in our physical space representation of ALL female-identifying bodies, in all shapes, sizes, ages, and colors. But we can be better. We can grow here. Moving forward, we are re-committing to intentional, authentic representation of diverse, inclusive models and marketing.

ACT!

We are committed to giving back monthly to nonprofits and community organizations that foster services and programs for a more just and equitable world. Monthly, we will choose an organization and give back a portion of all Positivity Package sales, as well as host a virtual auction with 100% of the profits going to the chosen organization of the month.

Follow along on @shopatdarling_auction.

Show up. Speak up. We know this is just the start of the work that must be done and that as the movement evolves, we must evolve with it. We hope you will join us.

In solidarity,
Linnea & The Darling Team

[Originally published via our newsletter on June 6, 2020]