It’s Sunday!
Good Morning Everyone. I hope you are all well.
Black Lives Matter. This isn’t a slogan. It isn’t another platitude. It’s a deep and meaningful expression derived from centuries of oppression and unfair treatment. It’s a cry for justice and perspectival change. It’s a plea for humanity. It’s also an opportunity for deep self-examination. The roots of injustice lie within us individually, whether or not we have been taught to fear and hate from childhood, or we’ve been swayed by weak examples and false prejudices coming from the company we’ve historically kept and perhaps currently keep. But the fact remains that we are all human, and we all deserve equal opportunity and fair treatment. The long chain of abuse has not been broken. And the disadvantages this abuse and bigotry has perpetuated over 400 years in this country, have handicapped an entire race in all categories and in each and every aspect of economic, educational, social and political opportunity. This is wrong. It’s unfair. It’s cruel. And it must end. No one deserves to die because they are of a different race, religion or color. No one deserves to have to work twice as hard to reach the same place that basic human rights and even playing fields bring to someone else. Look deep inside of yourself. What do you fear, black, brown, white or yellow? Nothing could contribute more to the failure of a society than hate and prejudice. So if you fear diversity because you think it threatens your lifestyle, well-being and your future, think again. You are so fundamentally wrong. Hate and prejudice themselves cause the pain and threat, not the false causes we attribute to them. They alone represent the greatest threats to the foundations of our society than anything else. They are self-perpetuating, and unless we are willing to put an end to the individual and personal, internal dialogue of bigotry, fear and hate, our society will come apart at the seams. Cleanse your hearts of this deep seeded and learned bias and intolerance, and you’ll save the world for everyone. It starts and ends with you. Black Lives Matter.
The country and the world are reopening, and it remains to be seen just how successfully this evolves. We’ve learned so much over the past few months, all in regard to unchartered territory. As we endeavor to find a pathway to ‘normal’, we must implement so many of the ideas we’ve contemplated during the lockdowns. But as I stated to you all a few weeks ago, there are silk linings inside this thorny and tattered coat. I’m working with the group, Rewiring Fashion https://www.rewiringfashion.org/, as part of my personal initiatives to do what I can to change things for the better, and create a clear and fair pathway to profitably for an industry. Please go to the website and look at the platform. It’s a work in progress. We meet weekly and work hard to find answers to the dilemmas that have been plaguing both wholesaler and retailers. And I believe we’re making unique progress. I’m also continuing my meetings with the retail CEOs in order to mitigate what many see as opposing positions. This Thursday I am conducting our second video dialogue to present this calendar, as well as to delve deeper into the serious cost to us all of the promotional disarray and inevitable discounting in the industry. I will, of course, keep you all posted, and I encourage your comments and thoughts.
I’m not going to take more of your time this beautiful Sunday morning in NY, so please just review the proposed NEW attached calendar that Rewiring Fashion is developing. All comments are welcome.
Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Stay Smart.
Gary