Our Commitment to Long-Term Accountability
Our Commitment to
Long-Term Accountability đ€
Our team is frustrated, angry and pained by the systemic injustices and treatment towards the Black community.
We needed a way to thoughtfully take action as thereâs a lot of work to do. To be real, we donât want this to go by the wayside in a few months. Weâve created this page to document our short and long-term actions to elevate Black voices. Weâll be updating our progress with full transparency as weâre figuring this out (because by no means are we an authority) and hope you can gain some insights into our process and from how weâre learning to be a better ally. Weâre open to feedback and would love to learn from you as well!
We are working through this list of resources to create action items, deliverables, and deadlines to hold ourselves accountable. Our goal is not just to educate ourselves, but to integrate accountability and consistent action to ilovecreatives for the long-term.
Much love,
The ilovecreatives Team
June 3rd, 2020
October 8, 2020
New âš
Citizen Creative LA
Follow @citizencreativela, a group of LA-based creatives sick of the status quo in LA politics! Hereâs what weâre up to:
Our Voter Guide for Los Angeles is LIVE!
Interviewed George GascĂłn at By Way of Us
Handed out posters at the Los Angeles Hall of Justice Jackie Lacey protest
Circulated posters around LA neighborhoods
Long-Term Accountability Updates
We are moving forward with holding these meetings quarterly versus bi-monthly. That way, we have more substantial updates to share.
Up Next đ
Citizen Creative LA
Goal: Share post(s) about election before November 3rd, 2020.
Reach out to designers Melina Sweet & Rikki Lee Thiel to showcase the power of creatives in public service.
Creative Profiles
Shawn to reach out to Black creative organizations and ask them if theyâd like to nominate 4 creatives for CPs.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Sell out of candles by August 30th, 2020. â
New Goal: Update inventory by November 30th, 2020.
We officially sold out of the our Donât Burn Out candles! Thanks to everyone who purchased and supported us and DWC. Weâve set up a waitlist for our next batch (since production takes time, particularly with Covid-19), and shared feedback on the candles with DWC.
september 24, 2020
New âš
Shop:
Goal: Add 25-30 more shops by the end of August (In Progress) â
We added 31 new BIPOC shops!
Weâre continuing to gather submissions over Instagram.
Donations:
Vote Save America "Get Mitch or Die Trying" â Supports Democrats in key battleground senate races across the country, with the goal of removing Senator Mitch McConnell out of office.
Creative Profiles:
Weâve added 6 new BIPO profiles
The content team is working on highlighting them in Instagram posts!
Citizen Creative LA
Follow @citizencreativela, a group of LA-based creatives sick of the status quo in LA politics! Hereâs what weâre up to:
Building out a Voter Guide for Los Angeles
ilovecreatives to post about CCLA needing help with volunteering
Weâre interviewing George GascĂłn at By Way of Us on Oct 12th
We helped get Godfrey Plata to By Way of Us
Weâre working on potential Creative Profile features on our designers, Melina Sweet & Rikki Lee Thiel. We want to showcase the power of creatives!
Printed out posters for Jackie Lacey protest
Collaborating with GascĂłn > Lacey posters with Paper Chase Press and looking into other swag.
Up Next đ
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Sell out of candles by August 30th, 2020. â
New Goal: Update inventory by November 30th, 2020.
Weâve set up a waitlist for our next batch and ordered 500 more candles from DWC. However, due to covid-19 safety precautions, they are a bit delayed in production.
September 10, 2020
New âš
Citizen Creative LA
Follow @citizencreativela, a group of LA-based creatives sick of the status quo in LA politics! Hereâs what weâre up to:
Creating a voter guide
Interviewing GascĂłn with bywayofus
Collaborating with GascĂłn > Lacey posters with Paper Chase Press
Personal Donations
Beauty 2 the Streetz â A non-profit on a mission to feed those experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles as well as provide confidence-boosting showers, hair wash and color, make-up, wigs, and most importantly connection.
Discuss Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
We took a pause from discussing the book this week. We will be back to talk about Chapter 5: How Free People Think in our next meeting.
Up Next đ
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Sell out of candles by August 30th, 2020. â
New Goal: Update inventory by November 30th, 2020.
We officially sold out of the our Donât Burn Out candles! Thanks to everyone who purchased and supported us and DWC. Weâve set up a waitlist for our next batch (since production takes time, particularly with Covid-19), and shared feedback on the candles with DWC.
August 27, 2020
New âš
Shop:
We moved our shop to our nav bar to improve access!
Weâre continuing to gather submissions over Instagram and our submit a business form.
Discuss Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
We posted our top quotes so far in an Instagram post. đ±
We also discussed Chapter 4: Black Male. Some questions we asked ourselves were:
Can data collection on stops and searches be a tool to improve community relations? In what ways might it fall short?
Can you imagine the conflict that African American police officers sometimes feel between their racial identity and their identity as police officers? Might officers of other races also feel that sort of tension? What can be done to counteract that?
Are there circumstances in which you might feel a conflict between your racial identity and your professional role?
Citizen Creative LA
Follow @citizencreativela, a group of LA-based creatives sick of the status quo in LA politics! Weâve been posting more on social and are actively:
Planning voter guide and DA Jackie Lacey protest, working with Paper Chase Press to create posters for people.
Creating a voter guide for DAAC.
Biggest need: Continuing to look for volunteers (designers, researchers)!
Up Next đ
Shop: Discuss Future Plans
Goal: Add 25-30 more shops by the end of August.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
New Goal: Sell out of candles by August 30th, 2020.
We launched the candles and have sold 84% if inventory so far! Weâre continuing to post and promote the candles.
We also shared our feedback on the candles to the DWC, and placed an order for another round.
Creative Profiles for more Black creatives written by Black Writers from our community
New Goal: Create 2-3 more Creative Profiles by August 31st, 2020.
Chanoa Tarle created 6 new BIPOC Creative Profiles. Weâll be featuring them on our Instagram soon.
August 13, 2020
New âš
Shop:
We highlighted our first shop, Made by DWC in an Instagram post. We plan to spotlight more Black owned shops on a regular basis.
Weâre continuing to gather submissions over Instagram.
Personal Donations
Marsha P. Johnson Institute - Defends and protects the lives of Black Trans people.
Red Cross Lebanon - Supports the immediate response and mobilization of emergency support for the people of Beirut, since the devastating explosions last week.
Discuss Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Weâll be posting some top quotes from the book this Saturday, August 15th.
We discussed Chapter 3: A Bad Dude. Some questions we asked ourselves were:
What was your reaction when you hear about a shooting involving a police officer and a civilian? Do you think first about the officer or about the civilian? Do you start with any assumptions about whether the shooting was justified or avoidable? Do you assume anything about the race or either person involved?
What are some of the ways science can help us understand the role that race might play in officer-involved shootings?
Is there a role that communities can play to diminish the influence of bias in the policing process?
Citizen Creative LA
Follow @citizencreativela, a group of LA-based creatives sick of the status quo in LA politics! Weâve been posting more on social and are actively:
Planning voter guide and DA Jackie Lacey protest, working with Paper Chase Press to create posters for people.
Biggest need: help with research, and digesting them into concise points.
Up Next đ
Shop: Discuss Future Plans
Goal: Add 25-30 more shops by the end of August.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Launch by August 5th, 2020 â
New Goal: Sell out of candles by August 30th, 2020.
We launched the candles and have sold 35% of inventory so far! Weâre continuing to post and promote the candles, while also keeping a close eye on inventory for our next round.
Creative Profiles for more Black creatives written by Black Writers from our community
New Goal: Create 2-3 more Creative Profiles by August 31st, 2020
Chanoa Tarle created her first Creative Profile for Ariyana Hernandez. Sheâll be working on 3x per month. Shawn to follow up on progress.
Develop a Creative Business School Course
New Goal: Listen and have more conversations on immediate needs by August 30th, 2020
Black Girls Code is currently talking with Squarespace about a potential partnership. Shawn will reach out in 1 week to see how conversations are progressing, to see how we can support them.
July 30, 2020
New âš
Shop:
We maxed out on our budget for shop profiles but weâre starting up again in August.
Weâre developing social posts to direct more traffic to the shop, starting with MADE by DWC.
Weâre continuing to gather submissions over Instagram.
Discuss Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
We discussed Chapter 2: Nurturing Bias. Some questions we asked ourselves were:
At what age did you begin to notice race and think about the role it played in your life?
Name a time when you worried that you acted on bias or felt targeted by it. What made you feel this way? How did you respond to the situation?
How are children picking up biased messages about race that the adults around them do not intend to transmit? What can be done about that?
Citizen Creative LA
Weâre realizing the biggest need is information design on social. Weâve teamed up with the District Attorney Accountability Coalition as a resource of information. Team Gascon will also help with fact checking.
We're now starting to post! Check out @citizencreativela and give us a follow!
Up Next đ
Shop: Discuss Future Plans
Goal: Add 25-30 more shops by the end of August.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Launch by August 5th, 2020
Candle Shipping & fulfillment QA is complete. The PDP, photography and social posts are almost complete. Weâll be announcing the launch in next weekâs newsletter and on social media.
Creative Profiles for more Black creatives written by Black Writers from our community
New Goal: Create 2-3 more Creative Profiles by August 3, 2020
Chanoa Tarle created her first Creative Profile for Ariyana Hernandez. Sheâll be working on 3x per month.
Develop a Creative Business School Course
New Goal: Listen and have more conversations on immediate needs by August 7th, 2020
Weâre continuing to talk with BIPOC creatives. After speaking with some of the women at Downtown Womenâs Center and Black Girls Code, we realized that we need to have more conversations about what their immediate needs are:
Black Girls Code: access to computers and internet
Downtown Womenâs Center: access to network and different perspectives to further their grown
Freelancers: Defining how to grow
Small Businesses: Checklist, steps of what they need.
Additionally, we want to research what other people in our network and/or organizations that are already doing this work that we can tap into.
July 16, 2020
New âš
Shop: Added 102 Black Owned Businesses
Weâre continually adding more businesses to our Shop.
Weâre also developing more social posts to share with our community to promote the shop.
Weâre continuing to gather submissions over Instagram.
Discuss Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
This week, we discussed Chapter 1 âSeeing Each Otherâ We shared our thoughts on the The Other-Race Effect (ORE), which is is the tendency to recognize and remember faces of one's own race more readily than those of other races.
From page 14 of the book: "Scientists see the other-race effect as a sign that our perceptive powers are shaped by what we see. That cringe-worthy expression "They all look like alike" has long been considered the province of the bigot. But it is actually a function of biology and exposure. Our brains are better at processing faces that evoke a sense of familiarity.
We all agreed that this was a great way to frame conversations moving forward. Particularly ones that ask: âHow does race shape who we are and how we experience the world?â
Ultimately, the brain is not a hardwired machine. It's a malleable organ that responds to our environments. The more we expose ourselves to different people, the more we can curb the other-race effect and prevent implicit bias.
We also agreed that we like tackling one chapter at a time. So weâll discuss Chapter 3 next.
Citizen Creative LA
Navigating local politics and non-profit organizations in LA has been⊠well, a lot of zoom calls.
Weâre realizing the biggest need is information design on social. Weâve teamed up with the District Attorney Accountability Coalition as a resource of information. Team Gascon will also help with fact checking.
Personal Donations
ESN Toronto - Supports those experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada.
Up Next đ
Shop: Discuss Future Plans
Goal: July 30, 2020
Discuss Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Goal: July 27, 2020
Weâll create an Instagram post sharing our thoughts on the book with our community â to hopefully start a continuous dialogue.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Launch by July 30, 2020
Candle Shipping & fulfillment QA is complete. The PDP is in development with photography on its way.
Creative Profiles for more Black creatives written by Black Writers from our community
New Goal: Test out a creative profile interview by July 16, 2020
Chanoa Tarle interviewed two businesses for free profiles. Sheâs now working on writing and publishing them.
Develop a Creative Business School Course
New Goal: Listen and have more conversations on immediate needs by August 7th, 2020
After speaking with some of the women at Downtown Womenâs Center and Black Girls Code, we realized that we need to have more conversations about what their immediate needs are:
Black Girls Code: access to computers and internet
Downtown Womenâs Center: access to network and different perspectives to further their grown
Freelancers: Defining how to grow
Small Businesses: Checklist, steps of what they need.
Additionally, we want to research what other people in our network and/or organizations that are already doing this work that we can tap into.
Looking Into đ
What are our long-term goals? What does this look like in a year, in two years.
Helping increase voter turnout and voter education.
Long-term shop plans.
How will reading Bias result in specific actions by our team
July 3, 2020
New âš
Shop: Added 75 Black Owned Businesses
We revised our tagging system to make it easier for people to find shops that interest them and align with their values.
As of July 2nd, we've added 75 Black Owned Businesses total (+ 21 from 54 previously)
We also added 16 Black Queer Owned Businesses
We created an Instagram post highlighting Black Queer Owned Businesses, and are still reaching out to our community to add more to the shop.
Petitions Weâve Signed:
Officials Weâve Called
Creative Profiles
Weâre working with freelancer writer Chanoa Tarle to interview Black owned business-owners and offer free Creative Profiles with them. We'll be testing whether this is something the community wants.
We're continuing to highlight BIPOC creative profiles on social.
Attended LA City Council, Budget and Finance Committee Webinars.
Got George CascĂłnâs Instagram Account Verified
Up Next đ
Shop: Add 30 more Black Owned Businesses
Goal: July 16, 2020
Weâre continuing to gather submissions over Instagram and our.
Discuss Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Goal: July 16, 2020
We had a powerful Pt. 1 of our book discussion this week. We shared our top takeaways, including this quote:
"Every aspect of our modern world has implicit and underlying bias in the way that we move through itâfrom housing, education, policing, social dynamicsâbut if we choose to acknowledge and unlearn our bias, we can start to move past it, rather than ignoring it.â
Next meeting, weâll continue to discuss our thoughts, culminating in specific action steps that our team can do to be aware of our own/and othersâ implicit biases.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Launch by July, 30 2020
Candle Shipping & fulfillment QA is complete.
While our original plan was to work with BIPOC creators to produce our photo content, after reviewing our budget, we are only able to offer images in exchange for product. We understand that this is not necessarily beneficial to the BIPOC community â in fact, it would be us perpetuating an all-too common problem in the industry & beyond. So for this candle initiative, we are now shooting content in-house.
Weâre looking for ways to monetarily support BIPOC creatives in our product budgets moving forward.
Creative Profiles for more Black creatives written by Black Writers from our community
New Goal: Test out a creative profile interview by July 16, 2020
On-boarded Chanoa Tarle to help write Creative Profiles. Reaching out to two businesses to offer free profiles.
Develop a Creative Business School Course
New Goal: Create an outline by July 16, 2020
We have a call scheduled June 9th with Black Girls Code to discuss ways we can support their mission.
Looking Into đ
What are our long-term goals? What does this look like in a year, in two years.
Helping increase voter turnout and voter education.
Long-term shop plans.
How will reading Bias result in specific actions by our team
June 18, 2020
New âš
Shop: Added 54 Black Owned Businesses
Added Submissions from our community
Created Social Posts to promote businesses
Hired Squarespace student, Carly Pryor, to help regularly update
Continuing to add more submissions as they come in. Goal is to add 25 more Black-owned businesses and services by June 30, 2020.
Added Petitions to the Resource Page
Created a resource page for petitions.
Attended LA City Council, Budget and Finance Committee Webinars
Personal Donations
Beauty2theStreetz - Donated to Shirleyâs Van Kickstarter so she could help beautify more people in Skidrow.
Dive in Well âPivot to Equalityâ - Purchased a course to learn how to build an inclusive brand rooted in anti-racism, decolonization and racial equity.
Up Next đ
Shop: Add trans-owned and LGBTQ businesses
Goal: June 30, 2020
With our commitment to support Black owned businesses, we must also direct our efforts to queer businesses. According to the 2016 National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), only 4.3% of LGBTQ businesses are Black-owned âand only 2% owned by trans people. Trans people are also four times more likely than the general population to make less than $10k per year, according to the National LGBTQ Task Force.
We hope to expose our creative community to more LGBTQ owned businesses in June and beyond.
Read Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
New goal: July 16, 2020
We werenât able to get the team books in enough time so we are extending our date to read Biased by July 16.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Launch by July, 30 2020
Candles and fulfillment boxes have been received, planning on launch date July 30, 2020.
We are aggregating a list of BIPOC creatives to help take photos for a second campaign.
Creative Profiles for more Black creatives written by Black Writers from our community
Goal: Test out a creative profile interview by July 1, 2020
Hired Chanoa Tarle to help write Creative Profiles. Still working on the process of what this looks like.
Develop a Creative Business School Course
Goal: Create an outline by June 30, 2020
Begun to have talks with individual BIPOC founders of different businesses about what they are looking for in a Creative Business School Course.
Looking Into đ
What are our long-term goals? What does this look like in a year, in two years.
Helping increase voter turnout and voter education.
June 3, 2020
New âš
Launched Shop featuring Black Owned Businesses.
Financial support is the most direct way to support Black entrepreneurs and creatives. We created this directory of links to their shops because there is SOME cute stuff out there.
If youâre unable to shop, you can still support and promote these businesses through social and word of mouth.
Personal Donations
On a personal level, our team has donated to the following organizations, however, we want to make a bigger team effort (see Downtown Womenâs Center):
Minnesota Freedom Fund (paused on donations) - combats the harms of incarceration by paying bail for low-income individuals.
Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Fun - EMW is the only abortion clinic in Kentucky & is one of the 6 black owned clinics in the country
NAACP Los Angeles - ensures the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination on the local level with a specialized commitment to removing educational disparities within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Black Lives Matter - creates campaigns and organized protests against state-sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism.
Beauty2theStreetz - Makeup, showers, haircolor, etc for homeless women in Skid Row
See more donations and fundraisers.
Up Next đ
Reading Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Goal: Read by June 15, 2020
Weâve selected Biased as our first book to read as a team so that we can acknowledge and understand our own internal biases with our everyday interactions.
Candle with Downtown Womenâs Center (DWC)
Goal: Launch by July 2020
We've partnered with The Downtown Women's Center (DWC) to sell special candles hand-poured and packaged by the women of DWC. 100% proceeds will be split equally between the DWC and another non-profit organization (TBD). We are also actively seeking BIPOC photographers and content creators to bring this collaboration to life.
Add to Shop featuring Black Owned Businesses
Goal: Upload 50 Black Owned Businesses by June 10, 2020 and create post to share and highlight businesses.
Looking Into đ
What are our long-term goals? What does this look like in a year, in two years.
Creative Profiles for more Black creatives written by Black Writers from our community.
Develop a Creative Business School Course with a scholarship component for our Black Entrepreneurs. We are reaching out to network who can offer mentorship and advice, from small things like how to meet government regulations, to balancing responsibilities like childcare â that no one talks about in business schools. This is our long-term goal to remove barriers of entry and empower Black creators.
Create a resource page for petitions.