The first toast of the night came from the founder of The Fifteen Percent Pledge, a nonprofit that challenged retailers to commit to buying 15% of their products from Black-owned businesses. James took time to highlight the pushback that diversity initiatives are facing. “We are witnessing unprecedented attacks on [diversity and equity inclusion] initiatives that were designed to level the playing field and drive growth for Black business owners,” she said. “There are no longer protections in place to ensure we have an equal shot at education, a good job, a bank loan, anything.”
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00:00 For those of you who don't know me, I am a fashion designer.
00:03 I launched my brand Brother Valleys several blocks away from here with $3,500 at a flea market
00:09 and everyone thought I was totally insane.
00:11 It was my entire life savings at that time and I really kind of put it all on the line.
00:17 I was lucky enough that I got grants, I worked really hard, I ended up really in debt, I got evicted.
00:23 It was dark for a while, but I pulled myself out of it through grit and through determination
00:29 and I learned a lot of very hard lessons.
00:32 It was those lessons and those fights and those wins that helped me have the courage in 2020
00:39 to go once again onto Instagram, which now I know is a trend of mine,
00:43 and put a bold idea out there and ask major retailers, many of whom were partners at the time,
00:50 to do something different.
00:53 And that was to do the thing that they do best in service of those who've been historically excluded,
00:59 i.e. the black community.
01:01 And I asked them to consider committing 15% of their shelf space,
01:05 roughly equivalent to the population of black Americans,
01:08 to commit 15% of their shelf space to black businesses.
01:12 Very rapidly, we started having people sign on, everyone signed contracts,
01:18 and within the first 18 months we had 29 of the largest retailers around the world
01:22 commit to the 15% pledge.
01:24 Thank you, guys.
01:26 [applause]
01:28 And through those contractual commitments, we're now in the process of reallocating
01:31 over $14 billion of annual revenue to black entrepreneurs.
01:37 Thank you, guys.
01:38 And so many of you guys have lifted us up in that process and helped make that work possible.
01:44 I think we know, and we've already touched on it a lot this evening,
01:48 that all of this work is very much in jeopardy.
01:52 When we ask some of the biggest companies in the world to commit 15% of their shelf space,
01:57 that ties in with things like affirmative action.
02:01 And so in 2024, we have to remember, yes, we have made so much progress,
02:08 but each and every one of us and the work that we do every single day
02:12 is an incredibly important part of the fabric and the quilt that ties us together
02:18 to give us the strength to keep pushing forward.
02:21 Because as hard fought as it was to get this progress,
02:24 there are people that are working overtime to claw it back from us.
02:28 And every single day I have the privilege of talking to black entrepreneurs
02:32 that are changing the face of this country,
02:34 and they're able to do that because of the work of all of us in this room.
02:38 We have fought hard.
02:39 There are people who were here long before us that started this fight
02:42 much, much, much before any of us were ever even born.
02:46 And the reason that my ask was heard by so many people
02:49 was because I was standing on the shoulders of the people that came before me.
02:53 So I just want to tell you guys, thank you so much for allowing me in this space with you.
02:58 I am so, so, so honored to get to do this work,
03:03 to get to be in this fight alongside all of you.
03:06 We need each other.
03:08 We are so strong together,
03:10 and that is how we get the message louder and be heard everywhere
03:14 so that we can have the next generation have just as much, if not more, opportunity than we've had.
03:18 Thank you guys so much.
03:19 Thank you to Time Magazine.
03:21 (audience applauding)