CART
MENUMENU
  • Shop Now
        • Air Filters
        • Bath & Body
          • Body Lotions & Oils
          • Deodorant
          • Hair
          • Hand & Body Soaps/Washes
          • Home Spa Products
          • Intimacy Salves
          • Kids' Bath & Body
          • Period Supplies
          • Shaving
          • Sunblock & Bug Repellent
        • Cleaning & Laundry
          • Air Filters, Fresheners & Purifiers
          • All-Purpose Cleaners
          • Bathroom & Tile Cleaners
          • Floor Cleaners
          • Dish & Dishwasher Soaps
          • Glass & Wood Cleaners
          • Hand Soap
          • Laundry & Dryer Products
          • Sponges & Cloths
        • Clearance
        • Clothing & Accessories
          • Baby Carriers & Strollers
          • Backpacks & Lunchboxes
          • Organic Baby Clothes
          • Play Mats & Baby Seats
          • Towels, Cloths, Swaddles
        • Dental Care
          • Dental Floss
          • Teethers & Pacifiers
          • Toothbrushes
          • Toothpastes
        • Diapering
          • Cloth Diapering
          • Diaper Creams & Powders
          • Disposable Diapers
          • Wipes
        • E-Books & Guides
        • Face Care
          • Anti-Aging Skincare
          • Cleansers & Exfoliants
          • Creams, Oils, Lotions & Serums
          • For Acne-Prone Skin
          • For Sensitive Skin
          • Lip Balms
          • Makeup
          • Toners & Mists
        • Feeding Baby: Bottle or Breast
        • Furniture, Bedding & Decor
          • Area Rugs
          • Bed Frames
          • Bedding & Toppers
          • Carpeting
          • For Babies
          • Mattresses & Futons
          • Pillows
          • Art & Decor
        • Gifts
          • Baby Registry
          • Gifts for Her
          • Gifts for Him
        • Health & Wellness
          • Colds, flus, allergies
          • Cuts, bruises, rashes
          • Hand Sanitizers
          • Vitamins & Supplements
        • Kitchen & Eating
          • Coffee & Tea Supplies
          • Cookware & Gadgets
          • Dishes & Utensils
          • Food Storage
          • Lunch Boxes & Food Containers
          • Organic Napkins & Cloths
          • Super Foods We Love
          • Water Bottles & Sippy Cups
        • Pets
        • Pregnancy, Postpartum & Breastfeeding Products
        • Radiation Protection
        • Toys, Games, & Art
          • Art
          • Bath Toys
          • Infant and Toddler Toys
          • Puzzles and Games
          • Stuffed Animals and Dolls
        • Water Filters
  • Product Guides
        • Air Filters
        • Air Fresheners
        • All-Purpose Cleaner
        • Baby Clothing
        • Baby Food
        • Baby Lotion
        • Baby Shampoo
        • Baby Soap & Bubble Bath
        • Bar Soaps
        • Bread
        • Car Seat
        • CBD Oil
        • Cereal
        • Cookies
        • Cookware
        • Cow Milk
        • Deodorant
        • Diaper Rash Cream
        • Diaper Wipes
        • Dish Soap
        • Disposable Diapers
        • Face Cream
        • Fruit Popsicles
        • Hand & Body Lotion
        • Hand Sanitizer
        • Infant Formula
        • Laundry Detergent
        • Lipstick
        • Mascara
        • Mattresses
        • Mayo
        • Nipple Creams
        • Nutrition Bars
        • Olive Oil
        • Organic Prenatal Vitamins
        • Puffs
        • Shampoo
        • Sippy Cups
        • Sofa
        • Sunscreen
        • Teethers
        • Toothpaste
        • Toys
        • Yogurt
        • Water Filters
  • Blog
        • Breastfeeding & Weaning
        • Clean Travel
        • Formula Feeding Without Stress
        • Grandparenting
        • Healthy Holidays
        • Healthy Pets
        • Home Improvement & Yard Work
        • Illness & Natural Remedies
        • Mompreneurship & Career
        • Newborn & Infant Concerns
        • Non-Toxic Mattresses, Furniture & Decor
        • Non-Toxic Cleaning Products
        • Non-Toxic Kitchen Gear & Food Storage
        • Non-Toxic Toys, Clothes & Gear
        • Outdoor Products & Tips
        • Pregnancy, Childbirth, & Postpartum
        • Product Giveaways
        • Products We Love
        • Recipes & Healthy Eating
        • Safer Baby Supplies
        • Safe Product Guides
        • School, Arts & Crafts
        • Skincare & Haircare: Good, Bad, and Sneaky
        • Sleep for Babies & Toddlers
        • Start Here: Detox Your Home
        • Vaccines
        • Vitamins & Supplements
        • Water & Air Filtration
        • Weight Loss & Fitness
        • WiFi & Radiation Concerns
  • Consulting
    • Healthy Home Consults
    • Health Coaching for Healthy Eating
    • Quick Detox for Home & Body
  • About Us
    • About Gimme the Good Stuff
    • The Staff
    • Store Policies
    • Disclosures
    • Contact
    • Subscribe to Maia's Emails
  • Videos
  • Cart
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS $50 AND UP
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Gimme the Good Stuff

Home > Posts > We Want to Do Better as Anti-Racists
Kelvin and Wolfie 2016

We Want to Do Better as Anti-Racists

June 8, 2020 | BY Maia James
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure page.

30FF9A60-6786-447B-9DAC-635AA661B737What a couple of weeks it’s been, you guys. I hope wherever you are that you’re safe and using your voice–and your dollars–to join the movement against police brutality and anti-blackness.

My husband and I have been having some intense conversations. His father (pictured here) is black, and yet my husband has passed as white his whole life. He has clear memories of the NYPD stopping is father and questioning whether he was a kidnapper when they were out alone together (without his white mother to explain the fair skin).

But my husband has never had reason to fear the police in his adult life. He doesn’t watch taxis whiz by him as he tries to hail them. He’s never seen a women cross the street to avoid him. He walks into our children’s school without being hassled by the security guard the way my father-in-law was when he visited Felix’s class. (Note: my own father came into the school on numerous occasions without any trouble.) Our sons will enjoy these same privileges, and unlike his own father, my husband won’t be accused of being a kidnapper when he walks the streets with his children.

As for me, I grew up in Vermont and knew zero black people. I certainly never heard racial slurs or witnessed anything I would call anti-blackness, but racial injustice was simply something we didn’t discuss much. I called my mom after my first week at college and declared that Colgate University was “so diverse.” (I just checked Colgate’s demographics and I see that it’s comprised of 5% black students and 5% black faculty). I was also genuinely surprised that in the cafeteria all the black kids “sat together.” It didn’t occur to me that all the white kids sat together, too. I graduated without one single black friend.

These days, I live in a very white part of Brooklyn, and my kids have just a few black friends, despite their growing up in New York City rather than Vermont. (Yesterday, we took the kids to a peaceful protest for families in our neighborhood that drew a crowd of at least one thousand–I saw at the most five black people.)

Black Lives Matter Protest

Ultimately, I’m reluctantly recognizing that I’ve been operating as if–since marrying a black(ish) guy and having kids with him–I am off the hook regarding my white privilege. No one can accuse me of being a racist, right? This is why learning how to become an become an active anti-racist is both illuminating and shame-inducing; I simply can’t believe how little I’ve really thought about this until now.

One thing I decided I would do right away was use this platform to promote Good Stuff that’s made by black people. There is only one problem with that…While my online store carries brands from almost a hundred small businesses, and we’ve put an intentional emphasis on carrying products from companies with women founders and founders from the LGBTQ community, I failed to recognize that we sell only ONE brand that is owned by a person of color!

I am committed to discovering black-owned businesses that I can promote in our Safe Products Guides and whose products we might carry in our online store. We’ve identified the following brands of personal care, cleaning products, and super-food brands that are black-owned and natural/eco-friendly/toxin-free:

  • PurHome
  • Oye
  • Kaike
  • Plant Apothecary
  • Jacq’s
  • Briogeo
  • Golde
  • Hanahana Beauty
  • The Honey Pot
  • Oui the People

I am in the process of vetting these brands, but they all appear to be Good Stuff, and I encourage you to support them. Please let me know of other natural products made by black-owned businesses by replying to this email.

Kelvin and Felix 2010

Finally, I recognize that most of the people reading this are white women, and that, our biggest job right now is to really listen to the black people in our lives.

I especially want to listen to any women (or men!) of color who are reading this. How can Gimme the Good Stuff better serve you? What are your concerns as black and brown mothers, or as white mothers raising black and brown children, that we might be able to help you solve? I say this knowing that your worries are likely bigger than anything I can ever address on a website that devotes entire blog posts to the differences between sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate.

Still, if you have concerns that our Safe Products Guides have overlooked because of my whiteness, please respond below. I am listening.

Stay sane,

Maia_signature

 

 

 
If you liked this post, sign up for our newsletter to be alerted when we publish new content like this!

Filed Under: Posts, Black Lives Matter Tagged With: black lives matter

Reader Interactions


Share this:

Share the post "We Want to Do Better as Anti-Racists"

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • E-mail
  • Reddit

Comments

  1. paola says

    June 11, 2020 at 1:43 PM

    Thanks for this post… loved it.

    Reply
  2. Sherise says

    July 6, 2020 at 5:20 PM

    Thanks for this post, glad to see you addressing this issue. As a woman of color who cares deeply about giving my family the good stuff as well as supporting my community, I think intentionally seeking out and highlighting diverse companies that support this cause is a great first step.

    Reply
  3. Christian Woman says

    September 16, 2020 at 1:56 PM

    Hello…

    First off, I am a west African woman living in the United States. I am also a wife, mother and a Christian. I’m trying to understand exactly what you are writing here. It seems to me that you are feeling guilty for being white, but why? I am considered black and I don’t feel like white people owe me anything. I am not oppressed in this country and the Africans that I know of here are not oppressed either or have a victim mentality. I don’t speak for all black people and as a Christian, I do believe that all lives matter (I do not support the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement because they don’t speak up for all black lives, like the unborn and innocent blacks who are killed by other blacks).

    I don’t find my identity in the color of my skin, I find it in Jesus Christ. I like to shop for the best products and not because it is black-owned or white-owned. I didn’t expect to see this article while attempting to shop for baby stuff.

    Reply
    • Nakalembe says

      December 10, 2020 at 11:37 AM

      As an African American that ardently refers to this website before making any purchase, I appreciate the empathy that you have shown by writing this article. I think actively seeking out the black owned businesses that carry good stuff is a great first step. You could take it a step further by highlighting, in the product guides, that a company is black owned because that could be a tie breaker if I am comparing two similarly ranked products.

      Reply
      • Suzanne Weaver-Goss says

        December 16, 2020 at 4:47 PM

        Hi Nakalmebe,

        Thank you for the suggestion. We are actively working on this. We have developed an icon that will let customers know which companies are black owned. Stay tuned.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

 
CLEARANCE

Shopping Cart

Shop By Category

  •   Air Filters  |
  •   Body & Hair  |
  •   Cleaning  |
  •   Clothing  |
  •   Diapering  |
  •   E-Books  |
  •   Face  |
  •   Feeding Baby  |
  •   Furnishings & Bedding  |
  •   Health  |
  •   Kitchen  |
  •   Pets  |
  •   Pregnancy & Breastfeeding  |
  •   Radiation Protection  |
  •   Teeth  |
  •   Toys  |
  •   Water Filters

Featured Product Guide:

Our Safe Product Guides help conscious parents find safe, non-toxic, natural and organic products for their families and homes. Check out all of our guides find out what's good, what's bad, and what's sneaky.

Featured image

Safe Non-Toxic Hand Sanitizer Guide

So you’re looking for non-toxic hand sanitizer…You’ve come to the right place! But buckle up, my friend, because there is a lot of info in this guide! (That’s what I get every time I hire Dr. Hopkins to provide research!).

Learn More >>

Browse Shopping Guides

Browse Blog by Category

Browse Blog by Tag

about us Activities for Kids Air Filters air fresheners Air Purification Air quality allergies animals anti-aging anti-inflammatories antibiotics aromatherapy asthma attachment parenting autism Ayurveda baby bottles baby food baby food guide Baby Formula bad stuff bath products bathroom renovation beach Beautycounter bedroom birthdays black friday BPA Bread breakfast breastfeeding bug spray candy carpet CBD central america cereal Christmas cleaning cleanse coffee coffee & tea colds & flu cookies Cookware cradle cap dads dairy dental care deodorant dessert diapering diet dinners Dirty Dozen dish dish soap dogs drinks Easter eco-friendly Eczema energy Environmentalism environmental toxins europe European formula face care family time flame retardants flooring food storage formula formula feeding fruit futon gifts gimmethegoodstuff giveaway giveaways gluten-free Goat Milk Formula good deals greens Greenwashing guest posts gut health hair hand sanitizer healthy cereal Healthy Food at Disney Healthy Thanksgiving holiday sales home detox Honest Company Humidifier Immune boosters immunity insomnia interior design junk food just for fun kale kitchen products kitchen renovations laundry lip balm lotion Lumion lunch boxes lunches makeup mattress mattresses meal delivery services meat medications natural birth natural mattresses nature Non-Toxic Area Rugs Non-Toxic Carpets non-toxic coffee non-toxic mattress non-toxic mattresses NonToxic Bath Products nursing nuts nyc oils Olive Oil our team packaged food packed lunches paint Paleo Pesticides phthalates pillows plastics play pollution Poofy Organics pregnancy prenatal nutrition probiotics Project one-eleven Radiation Raw Foods recycling Resolutions Safe Toy Guide Sakara school-aged kids school lunch screens screen time separation anxiety sippy cups skincare smartphones smoothies snacks sneaky stuff soap social-emotional development sofas sofas/couches soup Spring sprouted flour sprouted grains sprouted wheat Staff stress sugar summer sunscreen teething Thanksgiving Ticks tile toddlers toothpaste Toxins toxins in coffee Travel triclosan vegan veggies wallpaper water water bottles water filters wine winter wooden furniture yams yoga

INSTAGRAM

@gimmethegoodstuf

gimmethegoodstuf

View

Jan 23

Open
11 products that will help you save the earth (all available in our store). πŸ“¦πŸŽ‰1) 🧺 Cora Ball. Every time we do laundry, our clothes shed tiny, unseen microfibers that wind up in our waterways. This brilliant ball is simply tossed in the washing machine to collect our microfibers into fuzz we can see and dispose of in the right way.2) 🩹 Bamboo bandages. The adhesive sheet of a standard band-aid is made from a type of plastic, often toxic PVC. Patch bandages are made with soft, organic sustainable bamboo fiber and gauze.3) 🧽 Meliora plastic-free cleaning products. Their all-purpose cleaning tabs are a one-stop solution for cleaning the hard surfaces in your home in the most eco-friendly way possible.4) 🧊 Stainless steel ice cube tray. Regular plastic ice cube trays are not recyclable, so the next time you need to replace one, go old school!5) πŸ₯• Stasher bags. I have a drawer full of these, and haven't bought a plastic baggie in years!6) πŸͺ’ Straight razor. Around 2 billion plastic razors are disposed of each year, and they all end up in landfills. This eco-friendly straight razor has a bamboo handle and a recyclable metal razor.7) πŸ₯£ Cotton bowl covers. I use these daily to cover leftovers that I don't want to transfer to a separate container.8) πŸ’§ Stainless steel cup. This unbreakable 8-ounce tumbler cup will last forever, and is an excellent alternative to disposable plastic cups for a picnic, a party, camping, or for children in their classrooms.9) πŸ‘§πŸ½ Stainless steel lunch box. These bento-style boxes mean you never have to use Tupperware containers or Ziploc bags again.10) 🐷 Zip Top snack packs. This style of silicone bags is designed to fit in little hands. They come in cute animal shapes, and are another step your family can take to reduce single use plastics in packed lunches.11) πŸ’¦ E-cloths. These cloths will get you off of paper towels for good, AND you don't even need to use cleaner with them.12) πŸ₯Food Huggers. These do double duty, in my opinion--you don't use plastic to save your food AND you throw away less food because they really keep it fresh.

11 products that will help you save the earth (all available in our store). πŸ“¦πŸŽ‰

1) 🧺 Cora Ball. Every time we do laundry, our clothes shed tiny, unseen microfibers that wind up in our waterways. This brilliant ball is simply tossed in the washing machine to collect our microfibers into fuzz we can see and dispose of in the right way.

2) 🩹 Bamboo bandages. The adhesive sheet of a standard band-aid is made from a type of plastic, often toxic PVC. Patch bandages are made with soft, organic sustainable bamboo fiber and gauze.

3) 🧽 Meliora plastic-free cleaning products. Their all-purpose cleaning tabs are a one-stop solution for cleaning the hard surfaces in your home in the most eco-friendly way possible.

4) 🧊 Stainless steel ice cube tray. Regular plastic ice cube trays are not recyclable, so the next time you need to replace one, go old school!

5) πŸ₯• Stasher bags. I have a drawer full of these, and haven't bought a plastic baggie in years!

6) πŸͺ’ Straight razor. Around 2 billion plastic razors are disposed of each year, and they all end up in landfills. This eco-friendly straight razor has a bamboo handle and a recyclable metal razor.

7) πŸ₯£ Cotton bowl covers. I use these daily to cover leftovers that I don't want to transfer to a separate container.

8) πŸ’§ Stainless steel cup. This unbreakable 8-ounce tumbler cup will last forever, and is an excellent alternative to disposable plastic cups for a picnic, a party, camping, or for children in their classrooms.

9) πŸ‘§πŸ½ Stainless steel lunch box. These bento-style boxes mean you never have to use Tupperware containers or Ziploc bags again.

10) 🐷 Zip Top snack packs. This style of silicone bags is designed to fit in little hands. They come in cute animal shapes, and are another step your family can take to reduce single use plastics in packed lunches.

11) πŸ’¦ E-cloths. These cloths will get you off of paper towels for good, AND you don't even need to use cleaner with them.

12) πŸ₯Food Huggers. These do double duty, in my opinion--you don't use plastic to save your food AND you throw away less food because they really keep it fresh.
...

Load More >> Follow on Instagram >>

Footer

About Our Founder

Maia James, the founder of Gimme the Good Stuff, has a lifetime of experience in the world of natural living, and has turned this passion into a career, now helping clients easily enjoy greener, cleaner lives, peace of mind, and better health.

Read more about Maia

Gimme the Good Stuff helps busy, conscientious parents easily avoid toxic products in their homes through our in-home consulting service, personalized shopping guides, and online store.We simplify the process of navigating the confusing world of β€œnatural” products, and our readers, customers, and clients enjoy peace of mind and confidence that their home is a safe, healthy place for their families.
As Seen In...

Site Directory:

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Glossary
  • Product Guides
  • Store
  • Contact
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Connect with Gimme the Good Stuff:

approved-good-stuff

Good Stuff Approved:

copyright © 2021 Gimme the Good Stuff. All rights reserved. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2021 Β· Genesis Framework Β· WordPress Β· Log in