Malene Barnett Leads the Way for Change in the Design Community
Our mission at ELLE Decor has always been to promote great style from a diverse array of viewpoints and to celebrate the beauty of design wherever we find it, but we know we have not fully lived up to that mission. We can do better and we will do better, not only by taking immediate action in our editorial coverage but also by making a long term commitment to uplift and support our Black design community. We are listening and we are learning.
Last year we profiled Malene Barnett and the tremendous work she is doing with the Black Artists + Designers guild, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on increasing visibility and opportunities for its members. Behind the scenes, she has generously shared her time and insight with ELLE Decor and this week she shared her thoughts on current events on her Instagram feed. We wanted to share those here as a blueprint for how the design community can do better going forward.
A post shared by Malene Barnett (@malene.barnett) on Jun 4, 2020 at 6:10am PDT
Read the full text of her caption here:
I’ve been reading a lot of posts from white designers who want to do better. They are questioning why they don’t see many Black designers in magazines, awarded, recognized, on major projects, etc. Asking what I can do? They are feeling confused about racism and don’t understand the protesting.
While you’re trying to understand racism, a systematic problem, and contemplating whether you are complicit or not, make a list of the following; list the number of opportunities you’ve passed on to Black designers, list events attended and the number of Black designers you’ve interacted with, list the number of Black designers in decision making positions, list the number of award galas celebrating Blackness in design, list the number of programs featuring Black creatives as experts, list the number of Black design students you’ve mentored, list the number of design collaborations with Black designers, list the number of Black designers hired for multi million dollar projects. These are only a FEW areas to explore. If your paper is blank or fewer than a page, it just shows how much work YOU need to do because my list can take up an entire notebook.
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