At The Nowhere Nation we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement happening globally.
We have muted ourselves for the last week and have taken the time to reflect. We acknowledge that our silence on this human rights issue has gone long enough and that our ignorance in not knowing enough facts, is on us. We are sitting in the discomfort of fully recognizing our white privilege and the lives we have been afforded because of it.
When the idea of The Nowhere Nation was born, it was always to be more than just about shoes and fashion. It was a place to share stories and connect people through the art of fashion with people from around the globe. It was about using this platform to enact change and give back. We recognize that we can do better and be better.
We came up with the next action points so that we can focus on making long-term change. We are making a commitment to:
- donate 10% of all our June sales to Change The Record
- along with our standard $1 donation for each item sold in store to Dress For Success Sydney, we will now be additionally donating $1 for each product sold in-store to The Healing Foundation and National Justice Project.
- address the lack of diversity in our imagery and social media. We will be actively working to ensure our imagery is inclusive of all women, especially featuring and working with Black and Indigenous women. We will do this by actively seeking to work with new models, creators, and other women in the creative community that are BIPOC.
- set aside part of our budget in the coming seasons to use to bring Black/Indigenous-owned brands and designers to the shelves at The Nowhere Nation to share their products and stories with our clients.
- continue to listen to BIPOC's stories and points of view and do our own research to educate ourselves on how to be better allies. We acknowledge that being an ally is a verb, not a noun and we are committed to learning, sharing, and promoting change within our own circles.
This is a point of no return for us. We vow to show up authentically even if sometimes that will be imperfectly, we will continue to do so because deep down the injustices that are and have been happening are wrong and change needs to happen. We understand that this is not something that can happen overnight, but we are committed to doing the work.
We stand with you. Together.
Nikki + Mikala
RESOURCES WE HAVE FOUND HELPFUL:
We will continue to update this list with more sources that we find helpful as we come across them.
- An amazing comprehensive list of resources as well as a draft letter to your MP on Indigenous Australian issues by the team at The Goodmorning Pod
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ytU31LSoGim5cra3nd5yfZ4IB-87NISnhJtwDEw0Zyc/edit - Another great document with the aim of acting as a sort of directory and resource sharing by Mina McMahon inspired by the document by Changing Womxn Collective in the US
https://docs.google.com/document/u/2/d/1Cb1EnggTx4-bEA7OcDsSmw6YdKC-pWkqSwlzgvRYkG4/mobilebasic
- Aus Indigenous Fashion
- Yatu Widders Hunt
- Flex-Mami
- Bobo Matilja
- Aussiewoc
- The Goodmorning Pod
- The Fashion Heist
- Shit You Should Care About
Podcasts
