Carolyn's personal statement, delivered to her business audience via email and social media 10 June 2020 (link)
"With great privilege comes great responsibility."
In the matter of racism--speaking up against it, standing alongside those fighting it daily, unearthing/examining/relearning my own biases . . . the list goes on and on--I haven't lived up to what is expected of me. And it's past time for me to step up. It's time for me to say
I am responsible
and take on the work that has always, and rightfully, been expected of me.
Since true change happens from the inside out, initially, I'm educating myself through resources already available and the voices of Black social justice and business leaders who are offering concrete advice on how best to support the Black Lives Matter efforts. I'm taking a hard look at social media accounts I follow and groups to which I belong and seeking more diversity among them, so that I'm hearing from and engaging with cultural norms and personal experience far different from mine.
As you know, Escentuelle by Carolyn Dunne is a one-woman show, with no employees or contractors and extremely few suppliers. So, as a step I can take immediately, I will leverage my core mission of supporting women to specifically lift up Black entrepreneurs in my social media feeds. And I will continue to seek out ways for my business--and the messages it sends to a listening community--to promote antiracism.