The events of the past few weeks and months are not something we can turn a blind eye to. Watching black men and women suffer from systemic racism, police violence, and social injustice has shaken us to our core. At Karen Kane, we have found ourselves questioning the society we live in as well as struggling to find answers as to why we haven’t done more to help. Simply being an ally isn’t enough.
As a family business, we’ve been trying to make sense of what we can do to not only be an ally of the black community, but how we can also take actionable steps to fight racism and create lasting change.
We have a lot of work to do and are committed to having an open conversation about race and social justice both in and outside of our company. Many companies have posted content on social media with a hashtag or empty promise, and we did not want to do that. We wanted to make substantive changes that were not tied to a public relations release. We have donated to Peoples City Council Freedom Fund to provide funds to pay for legal support, bail, fines, and court fees for arrested protesters. Additionally, as a brand that makes women’s clothing, we felt it important to specifically support women of color so we’ve also donated to The Loveland Foundation to help provide mental health resources for black girls and women as well as Girls for a Change which empowers girls of color with leadership skills, community engagement, goal-planning, and developing a support network. We also support A Long Walk Home, a Chicago-based non-profit organization that empowers young artists and activists to end violence against all girls and women and advocates for racial and gender equity in schools, communities, and our greater country-at-large.
In addition, we are addressing other issues that we need to hold ourselves accountable for and make sure we show our support for the black community. This includes a commitment to ensuring that our models, influencers, and our online presence better reflect the diversity of our community and include more women of color. We are also implementing training to educate our employees about systemic racism in the United States and what we can do to help combat it.
We are committed to making substantive change. We have a lot of work to do. We would love to open an honest dialogue with you and hear your thoughts on how we can make a positive change. This is an important conversation, and we are ready to listen.