Sharon Chuter's Make It BLACK Campaign Is (Literally) Redefining What It Means To Be Black

For Black History Month, Sharon Chuter and Pull Up For Change launched the Make it BLACK campaign on Feb. 5. Collaborating with nine well-known beauty brands out, Make it BLACK created an entire line of limited-edition products with important purposes in mind: to support Black creators and brand founders and to change what it means to be Black — literally. Now, you can shop your favorite makeup from UOMA Beauty, ColourPop, Briogeo, Morphe, and more throughout Black History Month for an incredibly meaningful cause.

Chuter, founder of UOMA Beauty, started Pull Up For Change in June 2020 as a call for brand accountability with regard to Black communities. Her initiative, spotted by the hashtag #PullUpOrShutUp, began as a call for brands to publicly disclose the amount of Black employees they had in leadership and corporate roles. While several brands did pull up with their corporate breakdowns, Chuter's initiative revealed that a staggering number of brands employed few, if any, Black people in executive levels.

Now, Chuter's back with a new initiative that only builds upon Pull Up For Change's necessary work. Make it BLACK will offer direct support for Black-owned businesses. The movement has repackaged some of the most iconic beauty items out there, with 100% of the proceeds going toward the Pull Up For Change Impact Fund. There, the money will be allocated into grants for emerging Black founders and will also go directly to Black-owned businesses. Applications to receive support from the PUFC Funds will open in June 2021.

While uplifting Black creators is certainly the centerpiece of Make it BLACK, there's even more meaning behind this initiative. Currently, the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam Webster Dictionary still associate "black" with sinister, wicked, evil, and other unsavory words, but they don't include the more positive connotations, like luxurious, formal, and timeless. "The function of language goes beyond expressing ideas and concepts, it shapes thought and defines our collective consciousness," Chuter wrote in an open letter calling for the dictionaries to change their definitions. "White children are programmed with a false sense of superiority while Black children develop a subconscious sense of self hate." By repackaging classic beauty products in luxurious all-black, Make it BLACK brings necessary attention to this imbalance.

You can shop the entire collection now, and you can also donate directly to the PUFC Impact Fund on the Make it BLACK website. Although this limited-edition line will only be available through February, Make it BLACK will be an ongoing campaign, introducing even more ways to support the Black community. Check out some of the products below.

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