Big Cartel's Anti-Racism Work is Ongoing: Update 3

While protests have quieted and many have moved on, we want to let you know that our commitment to anti-racism hasn't faded as news headlines have changed. We'll keep up the work, and stay accountable with these updates.

Here's a quick catch-up on how we're trying to make our country and the world a more just place: We donate monthly to organizations committed to antiracism. We offer price relief to Big Cartel shops that are fundraising for racial justice issues. We maintain a section of our website dedicated to Black Lives Matter. We're posting quarterly updates with more details. See our first and second updates to read more.

Ongoing Monthly Donations

We've earmarked $10,000 each month to donate to Black, Brown, and Indigenous-led organizations committed to antiracism. Big Cartel employees can nominate organizations they feel a connection with, and it's made all of us aware of new and lesser-known groups doing important work. We're proud of the latest recipients:

In October, we donated $10,000 to Khmer Girls in Action, an organization led by Southeast Asian women building a community that works for gender, racial, and economic justice. We changed things up in November, dividing our donation between two very worthy groups: $5000 went to Black and Pink and $5000 went to NDN Collective. Black and Pink is dedicated to abolishing the prison system and liberating LGBTQIA2S+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by that system through advocacy, support, and organizing. The NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power, including their Landback movement, which aims to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands.

Big Cartel Art Works

Our art commission project, Big Cartel Art Works, helps us support a diverse mix of independent creators by commissioning a variety of paid projects. As we create projects and select collaborators, we maintain a mix of artists from different backgrounds, races, and genders, to ensure equal opportunity and that the work we create represents the diversity of Big Cartel's community of stores.

While we do our best to make use of our budget, we realized we were going to have some cash left over at the end of the year. So we donated a little over $8,000 to arts cooperative Black Table Arts, which is focused on making space for Black artists and creators in Minneapolis.

Here's some of what else was created for #BigCartelArtWorks in the past few months:

• Rani Ban Finds the Gleaming Light by Loré Yessuff

• You Have the Right to Rise Up by Jamie Gadette (with illustration by Nicole Medina)

• Newsletters 101: Using Email to Grow Your Brand by Chelsea Castle (with illustration by Nicole Medina)

• Voting Deadline Reminder animation by Khaila Carr

• Changing Seasons animation by Cady Buche of Unlimited Time Only

• A Year of Changes comic by Holden Mesk

• Vote illustration by Bianca Bello

• Clear Space for Happiness by Carla Thomas

• The Messy Path to Happy Destiny by Sarjé Haynes

• USPS-inspired illustration by Nicole Medina

• Emmett Shine on a Creative Career Path by Kaleigh Moore

• Print-your-own holiday cards by Josué Baltezar

We're wrapping up our work for 2020, but look forward to more learning, growing, and promoting diverse voices in 2021. We hope you'll join us in the work.