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Notes on Origin Stories and Mission Statements

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The below is a fuller version of my September 2020 Newsletter update.

Happy Fall, Y'all! The old me would say that I've waited all year to use that greeting; the current me knows that the waning days of summer are hard for me as a new "Summer is my Fave" convert. I write this newsletter draft / blog post to you from a drop dead gorgeous and decadent location, luckily it’s also familiar and grounding… I took a leap-of-heart a few weeks ago and decided to visit my family back in New York, after wrestling for months on whether or not to take my traditional Summer trip home. I've been in Brooklyn, blocks where I was born, and my trip ends in a few days so like with the last days of summer, I'm feeling nostalgic for the things I'm currently basking in. Hey, it's what we do as Enneagram Type Fours!

You'll forgive me a longer than usual intro, #CareFreeLYSociety friends coz next month is Premyé's third year of operation and I'm getting sentimental, ha! I committed to strengthening Premyé's offerings and community last year via the newsletter, new products, and fundraising/volunteer work. I share that for transparency and to focus this next message on another annual promise I have for Premyé: revisiting its birth story and mission.

It's a pretty simple origin story, actually: I created this business as a direct action and self-promise after Trump got elected. Full stop.

Day to day that doesn't show up much, but around anniversaries and world-shifting news, I have to remember that and voice it. It is part of what grounds my little passion project and helps guide what I share as offerings, from the newsletter and this blog, to my products, to my posts, and to my personal volunteering and #communitycare work.

There is a new call for small businesses to outwardly shun injustices in the arenas of Race, Climate Change, and Policing. A few business owners I admire have shared the call, so I consider this my contribution.  If you enjoy a cross over into Fiber Arts, check out this IG post by Little Skein Anne, whom I had the pleasure of creating a custom tea for earlier this year. Now, while I can't prevent Racists and their supporters from buying my products, I can make it plain that they are not welcome to them ignorant of that fact.

I try never do anything purely in opposition to a situation; I'm an optimist in that way and look for the positive obsession aspect to drive me. For Premyé that is the mission: I make elevated herbal offerings for ritual, self care, and community care. Full stop.

Now, truly, “old me” would be overwhelmed with how much I've changed in the last five years, as I never would have started a business, especially one driven by a social mission. But, the world we're all living in, where young white men can do what Kyle Rittenhouse did and go on to breathe air that Trayvon Martin can't… well, that takes *my* breathe away. And it shouldn't just take black folx breathe away…. Our collective next gasp of air must acknowledge those truths… and increasingly for me, they also direct my actions.

Where to go from there? We center ourselves and do what we can, learning from those around us and those that our trusted circles refer us to*. For me, I checked in with knowledgeable friends and called on lessons I've learned from BIPoC independent yarn dyers for writing this post. Creators like Karida Jones of Neighborhood Fibers has been unapologetically honest and transparent about Racism since she started her business and I want to grow with integrity like she has. After experiencing the 2020 June “Black Wave”, the July “Americana Ally Bust”, and a sobering historic take on Black August, I truly hope that Anti-Racist Allyship & Accomplice-work levels out thanks in part to the calls to call out Racist behavior as a norm. For you, the path may look different, but I hope it’s a journey you’ve already started. Reading this far, you likely already have!

Either way, maybe the below can be helpful… Here are a few resources I and my circles have found helpful to understand Race, Climate Justice, and Police Reform/Abolition which like much of our lives, intersect daily. I hope they help on whatever journey you have before you.

*A small note to not always listen to the loudest voices in the room, the recent visibility to Shaun King’s problematic and often diversionary content come to mind.

Cheers my dears,

Kim C.

Race

Climate Justice

Police Reform/Abolition