As a Black Owned brand that is committed to empowering others, we recently decided that we wanted to acknowledge and highlight the many lives lost due to injustices committed against people with black and brown bodies in America. That means we want to intentionally remember and acknowledge the deaths of victims of unjust shootings and police brutality on the anniversaries of their deaths. As a result our blog last week was about Walter Wallace Jr. who you can read about here (include link to last week’s blog). Sadly, we didn’t realize how so quickly we would be writing about another victim and yet here we are only a week later. Her name was Renisha McBride and she was 19 years old. After knocking on a in a Detroit suburb, looking for assistance after a car accident in the early hours of the morning of 11/2/2013, McBride was shot through the screen door and killed. While the defense said the case was not overtly about race, sadly, the murderer (a white man) saw a dark figure on his porch that evoked the same racial profiling—of blacks being associated with violence and trouble—that leads to innocent black people being killed by the police everyday and shot her in the face without a thought.
As part of our BLM initiative, we will be remembering victims like Renisha and Walter on our social media and hope that you will join us in the difficult work of trying to honor their senseless deaths in some small way, by continuing to highlight the constant fear that black and brown people face daily due to the abuse of power by the law and systematic racial inequality in the United States.
While we are just a shoe brand, believe it or not, we are a shoe brand with a very specific purpose. We strive to elevate, embolden and empower others in any and every way we can so our commitment and passion for equality for black lives is of utmost importance to us. Our BLM collection is inspired by the power, pride, beauty, value and culture of black people around the world.Each shoe employs the color black to represent those oppressed around the world due to the color of their skin. The red symbolizes the blood shed as well as shared, the animal print symbolizes the beauty and tenacious and wild spirit we embody and the gold speaks to the most obvious yet often ignored truth, our insurmountable value! Check out the stunning collection on our website and do not hesitate to join us in supporting the cause to facilitate fairness and justice for all. 20% percent of the proceeds from the collection are donated to organizations fighting for racial equality and social justice in America. We will say it again, there is nothing like doing good, looking good and feeling great all in one move!