Redefining Black: The Return of the Make it BLACK Campaign for 2022

The Make it BLACK campaign is back for 2022. Re-launched by Sharon Chuter and her non-profit organization Pull Up For Change, the campaign aims to change viewpoints surrounding what it means to be Black. Through repackaging iconic products of their partnered beauty brands (Morphe, M·A·C Cosmetics, e.l.f., Mented, Flower Beauty, and UOMA Beauty), the campaign drives consumers to realize that black is beautiful. The limited edition products are available during February in honor of Black History Month. Consumers can buy these products online from the websites of Ulta Beauty, Make it BLACK, and the participating brands. The products can also be found in IPSY and BoxyCharm subscription boxes.

The participating brands recognize the impact and importance of Make it BLACK. Chief merchandising officer at Ulta Beauty, Monica Arnaudo, says, “Ulta Beauty is proud to join Sharon and Pull up For Change to empower Black beauty and drive meaningful change in our industry. As a values-based company, we share the passion to shape how the world sees beauty and the intention to build greater equity for Black founders. Make it BLACK helps achieve this and we’re honored to support as the exclusive retail partner.”

100% of the gross profits from these products go towards the Pull Up For Change Impact Fund. The money is awarded to emerging black founders as grants, ensuring that black businesses have the opportunity to thrive. In 2021, the Make it BLACK campaign raised over $400,000, which was given to eight black female business founders.

“As a Black Female founder, I understand, first-hand, the struggles of raising capital or accessing funding,” states Chuter. “In fact, I am one of only 93 Black women in the history of America who have raised over $1M for startups. On the other hand, the average white male receives $2.1M to fund their start-ups. We have a long way to go to create true economic equality and there is no equality without equity. This is where I am proud to play a small part in supporting other Black female founders to make their dreams a reality, and to truly get the seat at the table that they very well deserve.”

Chuter not only hopes to redefine black through the limited-edition packaging; she’s looking right to the dictionary itself. The Make it BLACK campaign has a petition aimed at immediately updating the definition of the word black in the Merriam Webster Dictionary and Oxford English Dictionary. The petition has over 6,220 signatures. Chuter, who has written an open letter to both dictionaries, is writing an additional letter for each petition signature.

Language matters and words have power. Through changing the definition of black, the word will shift away from its harmful and inaccurately negative perception and more towards a description that evokes the power and beauty that has always been there.

In the words of Sharon Chuter: “Language plays a critical role in how we perceive the world. The function of language goes beyond expressing ideas and concepts, it shapes thought and defines our collective consciousness. Language should be neutral, unbiased and reflective of our current realities. It is in this regard that the dictionary has work to do.”

Prior to Make it BLACK, Chuter and her non-profit launched the #PullUpOrShutUp campaign in June of 2020. This social call to action was aimed at companies, with the goal being for companies to publicly disclose the amount of black employees in their corporate office and leadership roles. It is necessary to know this information in order to destroy the system that has held black people back and caused them to have low economic participation.

There must be changes in our society. We cannot accept the way things have been. Make it BLACK’s goals are more important now than ever before.

For more information, visit: makeitblack.org, @makeitblackoffical, and @pullupforchange.

Raine CreativeFebruary 18, 2022