June 15, 2020
On Moving Forward
Right now, it feels really hard to process everything that is happening around us: the murder of innocent men and women; police brutality; physical and verbal violence against protesters and those speaking up.
Most difficult of all, when these things are built on systemic racism—things like red lining, Jim Crowe laws, and mass incarceration—it can feel utterly hopeless at times to effect change.
Both of us, as Latinx Americans, have experienced pieces of this broken system—enough so that we are deeply empathetic and heartbroken at the injustice the black community has felt for more than 400 years in America.
It’s for all of those reasons, and more, that we’re adamant that Black Lives Matter—both in the ways we live our lives and the way we choose to run our business.
So how do we move forward as a business?
The entire reason we started Pedro and Tailor is because we saw a gap in the market for brands that celebrated our culture—and diverse culture at large. These types of conversations were never a marketing play for us. They have always been rooted in our own stories and the stories of people close to us.
We are a brand built on celebrating pride and joy that reflects our heritage and the places we come from. With that, it is our responsibility to speak up and protect the sacred lives of people whose heritage, story, and origins have been stripped away from them.
We know that our voice, the voice of BIPOC, and the voice of other minorities, is an important one in the fight for justice.
We believe that the sustainability of change needs to correlate to the sustainability of a business. Us committing to a certain percentage right now would not allow us to create long-term change. In the two months since launch, alongside partners, we’ve given away over $2500. We are committed to putting our money where our mouth is. While we are looking forward to the day where we can make larger, consistent donations, we first need to build the business to be able to sustain that.
P&T is only worth building, though, if it leads to positive change in the world. Profit is pointless if it doesn’t help people.
We will continue committing to activist movements (such Bail Project, NAACP, Black Lives Matter, and more), starting immediately with financial contributions, participating in peaceful protests with our families, voting, continuing to showcase real stories within our brand, and intentionally hiring those who share these values.
This is the first chapter in a longer story. This is just the beginning; come as you are.
Warmest,
Levi Tijerina & Josh Perez
Most difficult of all, when these things are built on systemic racism—things like red lining, Jim Crowe laws, and mass incarceration—it can feel utterly hopeless at times to effect change.
Both of us, as Latinx Americans, have experienced pieces of this broken system—enough so that we are deeply empathetic and heartbroken at the injustice the black community has felt for more than 400 years in America.
It’s for all of those reasons, and more, that we’re adamant that Black Lives Matter—both in the ways we live our lives and the way we choose to run our business.
So how do we move forward as a business?
The entire reason we started Pedro and Tailor is because we saw a gap in the market for brands that celebrated our culture—and diverse culture at large. These types of conversations were never a marketing play for us. They have always been rooted in our own stories and the stories of people close to us.
We are a brand built on celebrating pride and joy that reflects our heritage and the places we come from. With that, it is our responsibility to speak up and protect the sacred lives of people whose heritage, story, and origins have been stripped away from them.
We know that our voice, the voice of BIPOC, and the voice of other minorities, is an important one in the fight for justice.
We believe that the sustainability of change needs to correlate to the sustainability of a business. Us committing to a certain percentage right now would not allow us to create long-term change. In the two months since launch, alongside partners, we’ve given away over $2500. We are committed to putting our money where our mouth is. While we are looking forward to the day where we can make larger, consistent donations, we first need to build the business to be able to sustain that.
P&T is only worth building, though, if it leads to positive change in the world. Profit is pointless if it doesn’t help people.
We will continue committing to activist movements (such Bail Project, NAACP, Black Lives Matter, and more), starting immediately with financial contributions, participating in peaceful protests with our families, voting, continuing to showcase real stories within our brand, and intentionally hiring those who share these values.
This is the first chapter in a longer story. This is just the beginning; come as you are.
Warmest,
Levi Tijerina & Josh Perez
