Aurora James was frustrated when she would go to stores and see a lack of Black-owned brands on shelves. It was out of that frustration that the fashion designer decided she needed to be a part of the solution by disrupting business as usual.
“I was so fed up as a woman and a woman of color, being disappointed by the choices that people or companies were making. But I also realized that I failed in a lot of ways to really ask for what I needed,” James told CBS News’ Michelle Miller.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing, she took to Instagram and demanded major retailers commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands, creating the initiative the “15 Percent Pledge.” “Black people in the U.S. make up nearly 15% of the population,” its website says.
