Pull Up for Change: UOMA Beauty's Social Media Movement

2020 was a year where so many atrocities happened to the Black community and made people take a step back and reevaluate the system in America. As the world responded to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths, businesses and brands were put on blast on whether they supported Black Lives Matter or not. One of the brands that was big in this conversation was Uoma Beauty, a Black-owned business. The owner, Sharon Chuter, was at the forefront of discussing how Blacks are treated at their workplace.

While there were so many brands that showed support for the protest, Sharon noted that there was still a lot that needed to be done. “We’re talking about corporations not hiring Black people. Let’s talk about how they treat Black people when they’re in there,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. Most of the Black people working at these different places hardly get the treatment their coworkers get.

Some companies simply refuse to employ Black people despite supporting the movement. Sharon insisted that this was a habit that needed to be put to a stop.

The campaign started by Sharon was a way to get the brands involved in the Black Lives Matter movement to come clean on how they treat the Black employees in their midst. It was also a call for transparency for beauty brands to show how they embrace diversity through their numbers. In doing so, they can be held accountable and show the public that they care about Black lives. She posted about it on social media and got over 92k followers on the account the same day.

The Pull Up or Shut Up campaign asked that the number of Black employees in beauty brands be released in 72 hours. Although Sharon noted that the time felt limiting, the brands should be able to respond. It took nine days of protest before the officers who caused George Floyd’s death were arrested, so Sharon noted that there was a high likelihood these companies would not be forthcoming.

While there was a fear that many major brands would shy away from sharing their data, the response was encouraging. By the end of the campaign, about 76 companies had reached out with their data. Uoma Cosmetics, Revlon, L’Oreal, and Supergoop! were top of the list. All the brands that responded showed they had many black employees; some even made it to the board or worked as executives. The feedback opened room for conversation on why transparency in the business is a step in the right direction regarding conversations about Black Lives Matter.

In the age of social media, businesses must recognize its role in their sales. Social media has been used as a tool to demand change even though effecting change might be more challenging than hashtags and comments, the Pull Up or Shut Up founders believe that getting the conversation started is the way to go. “History will remember us for what we did or did not do during this time,” Sharon added, especially for diversity in the beauty industry.

As the Black Lives Matter conversation is aired on different platforms, it is clear that a lot of accountability needs to happen. The Pull Up or Shut Up campaign ensures that companies, especially beauty brands, do more than donate to such causes.

Doing so means that Black employees get the same treatment as their colleagues. Sharon hopes this campaign helps bring forth more transparency in the beauty industry.