Can you take the Fifteen Percent Pledge?

The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a racial equity and economic justice non-profit organization working towards a more equitable economic future. As Black people in the U.S. make up about 15% of the population, the organization calls on retailers to commit to spending 15% of their annual purchasing on Black-owned brands.

A number of large retailers have already signed on, including well-known names such as Banana Republic, Bloomingdale's, Crate & Barrel, Gap, Hudson's Bay, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Old Navy.

The idea started, as many grassroots movements do, with a social media post, when in May of 2020 Aurora James tagged some of the world's largest retail brands and said "We represent 15% of the population and we need to represent 15% of your shelf space."

It was the right message at the right time, and now, thanks to the Fifteen Percent pledge, over $10 billion dollars of revenue has been shifted to Black-owned businesses.

For a consumer, the pledge is a simple commitment to shop black-owned businesses. There is a directory on the Pledge website, and you can also consult the AMIBA Shop Black-Owned resource page.

As a bookstore owner the task is more challenging. While it is possible to source 15% of your gifts and sidelines from Black-owned companies, your inventory comes largely from the same dozen or so main suppliers.

You can, however, increase the number of books by Black authors on your shelves. What would your YA section look like if you applied that 15% pledge to the shelf space you give it? What about your Romance section? What about Biographies & Memoirs?

Take the pledge