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Hi Reader,

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Feeling powerless? Voting with your money is one of the easiest ways to exert your power in America.

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I learned this when I worked for Group Health Cooperative and started shopping at food coops. When you give a business your money, you are voting for them. When you avoid or refuse to shop with them, you’re letting them know they aren’t worthy of your cash.

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In the past few weeks, Walmart, Target, Amazon, McDonald’s, and many smaller businesses took advantage of the open call for racism by our current Administration and VOLUNTARILY cut their DEI programs. Not only that, some retailers took Black-owned (and other diversity-oriented) products off the shelves. WTF? No one forced them to (unlike federal organizations). These businesses decided of their own accord to jump on the racist bandwagon.

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As of this writing, Costco, Chase Bank, Apple, Cisco and many other businesses stand by their DEI initiatives, knowing that diversity always, always, always creates a stronger ecosystem.

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You see, good people look for opportunities to make things stronger for others. Bad people look for weaknesses and pounce on them.

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Guess what you can do with this information? Please use it to decide where you shop, invest, spend time, and what you drive. People are making tough but moral decisions: getting rid of their Teslas, boycotting Target and Walmart, moving their investments.

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You don’t have to be perfect at this. I’m not. I want to divest from Amazon but I buy from small businesses (and this author's, yours truly) who rely on Amazon to sell their products. But even if I’m not perfect, I can do my best and keep trying to do better to politicize capitalism.

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Which brings me to Black History Month. Of course it’s ridiculous to recognize the contributions of Black Americans for just one month, since their history is woven into the infrastructure, ideas, and inventions we use every day. But we can use this focused celebration to remind ourselves to invest in Black-owned businesses and keep doing it all year long.

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Support Black artists, filmmakers, writers, and musicians (see my favorites below).

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Make sure your kid’s schools are teaching African-American history (because without it, kids are learning white-washed history).

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Consider the lived history of Black Americans and their ancestors.

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If you don’t know me, you may wonder why I talk about politics and racism in my emails. Anti-racism and opposing regressive or oppressive politics is the core of who I am in the world, and thus a core of my business. It lets you know what I stand for so you can choose to support me and my business, with loving energy or buying from me. I appreciate both.

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What I'm listening to, reading, and watching:

My favorite Black filmmakers:

Julie Dash

John Singleton

Spike Lee

Charles Lane

Jordan Peele

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My favorite Black writers:

Alice Walker

Zora Neale Hurston

Toni Morrison

Ralph Ellison

Richard Wright

James Baldwin

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My favorite Black musicians (my real list is impossibly long):

John Coltrane

Carmen McRae

Stevie Wonder

Nina Simone

Prince

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What are you listening to, reading, or watching that you think I’d like? Reply and let me know.

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Let me know if there's anything special you'd like to hear about in the coming weeks. Just reply and I'm on it!

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Wishing you power and purpose in your life.

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Thanks for reading,

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Carrie

Author, So You Want to Be a Doula​

​​Website​​​

​See all past issues​

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Some time-sensitive info for you:

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Registration is open for Awakening the Divine Feminine: Transform Your Life and Work, April 4-7, 2025. Space is limited, and the best lodging options are going fast. In this retreat, you’ll learn the tools to access your internal power and ground yourself in the midst of the patriarchal chaos. Don’t let it get you down. Resource yourself and let’s change the mf’ing narrative!