A Message to Our Community

A Message to Our Beloved Modern Domestic Community: 

In light of the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, and the continuing violence against Black people in America, we feel we have a responsibility to publicly re-affirm our core values, and share with our community the actions that MD is taking to stand against injustice. While we acknowledge that we have a lot to learn in regards to institutional racism, police brutality, and the specific history of our neighborhood, we know that remaining publicly silent is no longer an option. We humbly ask our MD family to join us in this work toward an equitable America.  

We are a white, female-owned business in a historically Black neighborhood. As such, we understand that we have unintentionally been complicit in the gentrification of the Alberta Arts District. We are deeply committed to educating ourselves and doing our utmost to contribute emotionally and monetarily to our Black community members. Though we are sure to make mistakes along the way, we will continue to lean into our personal and professional anti-racist work in order to make our sewing community more inclusive and more aware.

Here are some of the ways that Modern Domestic is taking action:

• In response to the murder of George Floyd, we have donated to Color of Change and Don’t Shoot PDX, along with committing to a recurring donation to The NAACP.

• To offset the devastating impact that COVID-19 has had on food security for our city’s most vulnerable, MD contributed 2% of all profits during April and May to Oregon Food Bank.

• Modern Domestic is proud to be a long-time supporter of The ACLU and Planned Parenthood.

• In 2016, we launched our Kids Camp Scholarship Program, intended to make sewing camps accessible to children in our local community who would otherwise not be able to experience the joy and creativity of making. Moving forward, we are expanding this program to benefit more of our Black community members specifically. 

• We are currently in communication with King Elementary School to pursue the best way to support students of color in our neighborhood.

• We welcome suggestions for additional organizations and programs that we can support in tangible ways. 

We are not sharing these efforts to receive praise, but to communicate the actions we are taking and hopefully inspire our white community members to take action as well. Thank you for your grace while we do this work to advocate for equality, listen to Black voices, reflect on our implicit bias, and learn effective tools for combatting systemic racism and uplifting Black lives. We enthusiastically welcome questions, resources, and ways to grow our understanding of racism and anti-racism in our sewing community and community at large.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” —Maya Angelou

Lupine, Michelle and the MD Team