Watch and share the BOSS (Black Owned Shelf Space) UP Video

(Black PR Wire) To address the inequities Black owned hair care companies, endure due to lack of shelf space at major retailers, Silver Rights activists Allyson Springett and Maggie Anderson introduce the BOSS UP campaign. BOSS (Black Owned Shelf Space) UP is circulating a petition urging major retailers to commit to dedicating 50 % of the Black/ Ethnic aisle to Black Owned hair care products. BOSS UP is also countering deceptive marketing practices that lead Black consumers to think non-Black owned products are Black owned. The ongoing protests due to police brutality and systematic racism have energized the Buy Black movement that identifies and promotes Black owned businesses.  In solidarity with these civil rights groups, media outlets, advocates, outspoken consumers and celebrities, BOSS UP is educating consumers specifically on which Black hair products are actually Black owned; and challenging Americans to post pledges to buy all their hair care products from Black owned firms.  Allyson and Maggie present this two-pronged approach to give Corporate America AND conscious consumers an opportunity and a positive outlet to create hope, jobs, power, and unity during these trying times when much of that has been lost.

To that end, the dynamic duo star in a short, yet hard-hitting video which is as informative as it is inspirational. The BOSS UP launch video shows how so many of the largest, most popular and successful Black hair care companies are no longer Black owned, identifies many outstanding Black hair care firms that are still Black owned. It also asks Americans to sign Allyson’s 50% of the ethnic aisle petition and accept Maggie’s Black Owned Hair Care Challenge.  “We lost the Black hair care industry, and all the jobs, businesses, prosperity, pride, and power that came with it.   We think the time is right to finally do something to bring Black hair care back to our community. We must make it happen ourselves.  It’s time to BOSS UP!”  

Allyson Springett, owner of Mystique Natural, is well known for her longtime activism on behalf of her fellow Black owners in the hair care industry. “We cannot be successful if we are denied fair representation at the mass retailers.  Similarly, consumers who want to support us cannot because they typically only have access to Black hair care products that are no longer Black owned.” For decades, the overwhelming majority of shelf space in the Black hair care aisle has been reserved for large American and European companies that are not Black owned, like L’Oréal and Unilever. In addition, Black brands have to undergo unfair requirements to even apply and qualify for space.  This situation is only worsened by the lack of diversity in executive levels at the large retailers that recruit and enable visibility at their stores. Springett created the 50 percent petition banking on the news of the unprecedented pledges made by Corporate America to fight racism and invest in Black owned businesses. “You can’t fight racism with a mission statement.  You have to make changes in the system that keeps Black business out and keeps Black people down.”

Maggie Anderson is a renowned buy Black activist and author known for her stand buying Black only for an entire year AKA The Empowerment Experiment, and her acclaimed book Our Black Year.  “It’s our time. We just want to expose and oppose the unjust, racist lack of our ownership and success in the Black hair care industry, and the resultant asymmetry between the wealth and success of the founders and supporters of the Black hair care industry versus the current owners and beneficiaries.  Those two groups don’t look or live the same at all.” On Juneteenth, Anderson created the Black Owned Hair Care Challenge to drive support to Black owned hair care brands and beauty supply stores, and inspire and showcase buy Black solidarity. Maggie Anderson, representing The Challenge, has since officially joined forces with the BOSS UP campaign.

To sign the petition https://www.change.org/silverrightsactivist

To learn more and accept the Black Owned Hair Care Challenge, see www.BlackOwnedHairCareChallenge.com

#BlackOwnedHairChallenge

#BOSSUP

#50percentBOSS

#silverrights

#buyblackhaircarechallenge