Recent events have drawn the world’s attention once more to the ongoing injustice faced by so many. And it has turned our attention inward, as individuals and as a label, to take a good, hard and sometimes uncomfortable look at ourselves and how we can help in the movement toward a more equitable society, free of racism and anti-blackness.
#Blackouttuesday saw us at Erstwilder join others to take a seat, be silent and listen to the important voices of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community share lived experience of the direct and indirect racism in their lives. Our team continued the important conversation internally, which left us asking ourselves how we can do better.
Though we have been sharing content through our stories, some have asked why we have not been more outspoken where others have. And while we applaud everyone sharing the voices that matter right now, in truth we don’t see ‘awareness’ as the key issue among our community, nor the key benefit we can have using our platform for good. And for change. The message for the Black Lives Matter movement is everywhere. Scrolling through socials over the last few weeks clearly shows that this is an issue that our community is aware of cares deeply about. Promoting messages of support and solidarity would no doubt contribute to the growing sentiment that more needs to be done. But messages along are not enough. More broadly speaking, the issue of systemic racism is nothing new. It is not simply a lack of awareness which is causing the status quo to continue, but the unquestioned naivety of some, wilful ignorance of others and the inaction of far, far too many.
So, it is not that we have been silent, we have just been planning. The greatest contribution we believe we can have is in actually doing better ourselves. There are three key areas where we can have an impact. Content, product and support. While we already work with a number of women of colour, we will seek to have a better representation of diversity in our content. While we have represented women of colour in some of our designs over the years, we will seek to have greater representation here too moving forward. In terms of support, we’re turning our attention to our home, and it’s First Nations people. As part of our company's journey of reconciliation we’re committed to building our knowledge about Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and supporting great organisations where we can. To kick things off we're supporting Red Dust who do amazing work in remote Indigenous communities that inspires youth to build resilience, identity and aspiration.
From 10:00AM (AEST) Monday 15th June until 10:00AM (AEST) Wednesday 17th June, we’re pleased to donate 100% of the profits from each ‘WHAT GOES AROUND BROOCH’ sold, along with $2 from any other design purchased* on ERSTWILDER.COM directly to Red Dust. You can also support Red Dust directly through your own donations and support their digital transformation of health and wellbeing programs to keep remote communities connected.
>> SHOP THE 'WHAT GOES AROUND' BROOCH DESIGN
TERMS & CONDITIONS
The Red Dust donation campaign runs from 10:00AM (AEST) Monday 15th June until 10:00AM (AEST) Wednesday 17th . Please note that gift cards, gift boxes, brooch converters, necklaces chains and Essential Earrings are excluded. All other products listed online are included in the campaign event.
