CMR
It’s Cafe Mocha with Loni Love, Yo Yo, and Angelique.
There’s been an assault on DEI that started back in 2023. We already know that Trump is doing the best he can to wipe out the DEI programs. But right now, in the month of February, civil rights activists are asking us to boycott boycott Target, because they’re phasing out their DEI programs. Joining us to talk about this is Germaine Leftridge. She’s a woman who has helped put some major well, turn some small Black owned businesses into major brands.
And she did that, with Target and other major stores. She’s founder of of the Ubiquitous Women’s Expo. Germaine, welcome back to Cafe Mocha. Germaine, first of all, I just wanna say the work that you have been doing these past, like, what, ten, twenty years to have
Thirty thirty something years.
Yes. I mean, just for the listeners, let’s let’s just give them a little bit of your history and the work that you have done to help black, black products get into stores. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it has always been my mission for us to try to recreate Black Wall Street.
I’ve worked with brands from the very beginning, Mielle Organics, who got a 9 figure deal about two years ago. And, just a a multitude of brands trying to, you know, create strategy for them, created strategy, help them to, create their distribution, phases and their pricing, product suggestion, and a lot of them have been quite successful in doing so. But one of the things that I’ve always told them, build your ecommerce. Build your ecommerce. That way you don’t first.
That way you don’t have to share your money with anyone, including me. You know? But it’s important because you always have to have different avenues of making money. I’ve worked with organic root stimulator Gary Gardner back in the day. He came out with started the olive oil sheen spray.
Gary got a hundred and 30 something million dollars without social media back then. And so it shows that that we have buying power, and we could make each other very rich if we’re intentional about it. You know? So it yeah. It’s unfortunate where we are.
Well, well, that’s why I want at first, for our listeners, because a lot of people are getting confused as to what DEI is. Can you explain what it is? Yeah. Well, first of all, how DEI came about from my research and understanding was when people looked in colleges, universities, corporations, all they saw were white men. So they wanted to balance that out.
And one of the things that people think, and I don’t know why, when they think of DEI and welfare, they see a black face totally to the contrary. DEI initiatives benefited first white women. Mhmm. It benefited next Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, l b g LBGTQ plus, and then black women, then us. Ariane Simone tried to tell us when they attacked her on her, Fearless Fund and she lost, that DEI was now going to be attacked.
And that’s exactly what is happening. So DEI was basically to get equity, fairness with labor, with management within corporations. Supplier diversity is another arm of trying to get, small black owned businesses in in in in we female too on on shelf. So it’s two different phases. The DEI, it’s unfortunate, but it’s going to, we’ll see how it will this all will pan out.
See But I do think we we need to be careful, with saying you’re gonna boycott Target. Because some of the black owned are saying buycott, b u y c o t t, versus boycott. Now And what’s the what’s the difference? What’s the difference? buycott, they’re saying, is still going to target it and only buy those products that are black founded, and boycott don’t go in there at all.
Now I haven’t been to Target since this whole announcement. I really haven’t. But but you have to understand the history too. I have to say Target has a long standing history of supporting black owned brands. Yes.
And this goes back and and and we cannot forget that because there’s some other retailers we should have boycotted before thinking about boy boycotting Target. They they helped Shea Moisture become strong. Shea Moisture, mixed chicks, aunt, miss miss Jackie’s, aunt Jackie’s. Yes. They put them on in caps.
They made them a lot of money, and Rich Lou Dennis really got his major start in Target. That was long before 2020, the George Floyd incident. Long before all this DEI stuff. Long before the DEI. So I don’t understand why the CEO, Brian, Cornell, felt that he needed to to to state publicly that they were going to dismantle their DEI program.
You know? But we don’t know what kind of pressure they’re they are facing with this executive orders from Trump. Yeah. Well, that’s why that’s why they dismantled it. All of these corporations are dismantling it because of the current administration, and they’re dismantling things.
My thing is I I I I do wanna be specific. DEI, from what I was reading, does not mean hiring. DEI was more about on the side of where where Germaine works, talking about products, talking about, you know, even with us. Cafe Mocha is supported by a lot of, corporations. DEI.
And it counts towards their DEI, standing Standing. And spending and things like that. So it doesn’t mean, like, hiring. And I think people and I think that’s where people are getting a lot of confusion. They don’t understand that, you know, some people in that administration, Trump’s administration is trying to say, the minute they say DEI, they mean black people or women or gay people.
It’s not hiring. We’re talking about these type of of of of support from corporations that were put into place because corporations weren’t giving, our us our fair share. Black people buy tie. Black people spend money. Like you just said, Germaine, we’re like the top consumers when it comes to spending for these corporations.
And so and you’ve seen it. So these programs were given to us to help us not only put in black products and help those individuals, but also black programs. The McDonald’s, gospel fest, Essence Fest is is covered under DEI. I think what we should do, because I think and I don’t know. I might be wrong, but I hope that I’m right.
I think that these corporations decided, okay. We’re gonna publicly say we’re gonna cut down DEI to to pacify this administration, But they’re going to actually still operate in some form by supporting, businesses. Do you think that might be the case, Germaine? I I I agree. Because, first of all, if you have a heart for it, and if you understand your profit, black Americans have a current buying power of 1.6 trillion
And like you said, we are the we are the second, consumer base of for spending. The second. And which represents over 300 billion. We have strong buying powers that we do not use to our advantage. And so I do agree because they don’t wanna miss that money.
They they don’t. They can’t afford to. If you and and I’m a tell you something. I really feel we needed this. We needed a wake up call as black people.
We needed it. We’re being very frivolous on what we spend. We’re very label oriented on labels that don’t put money back into our community. We don’t support each other like we should. You know, I have a skin care line called I Know Skincare, and I spoke at this event.
I’ll never forget this. And I have been in business maybe about six or seven months. And now mind you, I spent the money to get it clinically tested. And this black lady came up to me, and she said, I’m real proud of you, but you know some of us not gonna buy it because we’re gonna think it’s not as good. I looked at her.
I had to hold back the Detroit in me. Mhmm. And I I you know, really, I was very disappointed. I said, well, then I’m sorry. That’s they will not be my customers.
If you think like that, and shame on them, and shame on whoever thinks like that. That’s some of the problems. So I think that this was a good wake up call to say we have not arrived. Yeah. I totally agree.
A lot. I totally agree. Yes. We got too comfortable. We don’t support each other.
Come on, athletes. Instead of buying fifteen, twenty cars, help. I just came back from this event in, Florida where where, Vivian Pickard in less than fifteen minutes number black people. It was a few, Caucasian, family in the room. And she raised over a hundred thousand dollars to support the CASTEC young girl golf, golf team Nice.
To buy them uniforms. Yeah. And these are the kinds of things we’re gonna have to put our money where our mouth is. We’re gonna have to start supporting. Every other culture does it.
Jews do it. Koreans do it. Hispanics do it. Why can’t we do it? That’s because Why can’t we do it?
It’s because of what that lady who walked up to you said, is that we’ve been conditioned to believe that white is better and that if it’s black, there’s something inferior inferior about it or it’s not gonna come with good customer service or a a host of other things. It’s Cafe Mocha talking to Germaine Leftridge, creator of Ubiquitous Women’s Expo and also founder of I Know Skincare. Why Target? Because Target is the one place other than going into, like, a beauty supply store, Target is the one place I know where I can go to that section and get all of the stuff. Whatever it is, whatever brand, it’s all right there in Target.
So why Target? Why not Walmart? They don’t pay their people. Folks would have their docs over here still on food stamps. Why Target?
And they were the first to announce the dismantling of their program. I don’t know. And I’ve questioned certain people about their boycott initiative because, I mean, even in 2023, I think it was, the CEO, Cornell, he acknowledged that DEI fueled much of Target’s growth over the past nine years previously. He acknowledged that. I mean, they had, I don’t know if you all remember this.
They had pride in caps, which the conservative media bashed them. Oh, yeah. I remember. In there knocking over in caps. So they have been very on the front line of trying to make sure that they service the people that are coming into their store.
Also, I bet bought a awesome jumpsuit from a black male designer. So this is this is not something that, that they just started. So I’m not sure what kind of pressure they they are under or why they did it, but, I mean, they made a misstep and misspoke. But I I do think that we need to be very strategic as to who we bought. I mean, you’ve got Harley Davidson.
You got Meta. Are we gonna get off of, social media? No. Mm-mm. You know?
You have so many other companies that were so quick, and they helped finance Trump. Right. So we need to yeah. We need to look at that and and and and really focus on what’s gonna make the greatest impact, like the bus boycott Mhmm. With Rosa Parks.
I and I think that is the reason why to answer your question, Angelique, they they chose Target. The thing is is that, people like Tamika Mowery, she, has been online, and she has been stating the reasons why. And even though you have people like Tabitha Brown and, the young lady who owns the Lip Bar who says, can you Cam Milosa. Yeah. She said, you know, they would like for you to at least go into Target and purchase only the black items, but for for some people, that’s still supporting Target.
And this is the thing is that until we come together and decide something and this is the problem when you Right. You mix. Right. Because now it’s like, well, do do you feel bad, or is are we going to are we going to try to improve the greater good? And the greater good is that, you know, there are going to be casualties when you’re doing a boycott.
Right. But the casualties are gonna be the black female businesses that are doing all those great beauty products. Target is not going to suffer in the end. They’re not gonna suffer. They will suffer in the end.
They will. Yeah. Oh, yes. They will. Oh, yes.
They will. We because we don’t just shop that black sex hair care section. We shop the entire store. And and and so no. And they understand that.
And I don’t think we understand the capacity and how much we affect these retailers, these I mean, liquor stores, all of we impact them a great deal. We bring them profit. But see, what’s that’s why I said it about the BUICT, b b u y c o t t, versus boycott. There is, like I’m I have mixed feelings on this because I do have brands that are on that shelf that I want them to do well. They deserve to do well.
They deserve to be on that shelf. They worked hard. But then at some point in time, when do we make the sacrifice like they did when they boycotted all public transportation? Right. And you have to also think, ladies, Okay.
The everyone’s saying, well, they may cancel you know, if they see that our sales aren’t good, they may cancel you anyway, honey. It’s like if they’re if they’re already giving in to an administration, they may cancel anyway. And what Germaine first and what Germaine first said was correct. You have to you have to pivot. You should have been building your e commerce.
You build your e commerce up, you become independent. You don’t you know, that way you could still do your sales. But see, the thing is is that a lot of them are under these corporate contracts. And that’s what I mean by sometimes you’re gonna have casualties. And, you know, that’s what happens when you’re trying to make a movement.
But, I mean, it’s it’s it’s it’s a really, like it’s it’s it’s it depends on where you wanna stand, how you feel, and all they were asking all they’re asking for the month of February, if from what my understanding is for the month of February, is just not to go to Target. You can go to places that actually still have their DEI programs. Costco. I went to Costco the other day. It was jam packed.
It was jam packed. You have Walgreens. You have CVS. And, yes, those prices may cost a little bit more. But even just for a month, Target would be able to see the difference.
I wanna do I want to say one thing about Walmart that when I was, hosting on the red carpet on e, Walmart still has a black products campaign that they actually showed a commercial for where they were saying they were distinctly talking about back black products and black products to buy. So you can these corporations, it is up to them to decide how they want to express, their support for not only the black community, but the the diverse community. And Yeah. You know, and so it’s it’s up to them, but we need to look out. And you’re gonna see because this weekend coming up is Super Bowl.
Watch and see who’s still supporting black, products and diversity. Watch watch on those Super Bowl commercials, and they’ll tell you everything you need to know. Great points. Great points. And and, you know, for me, it’s like it’s it’s easy to take a sledgehammer approach to dismantle the program.
And I know, I I always always have felt things have to be fair. But but the real challenge is coming together to agree on what fairness look like in practice. You know? And until we can become a colorless society where it is, a fairness across the board. I mean, look at what the president said after that claim tragedy in DC.
That it could possibly be DEI. And they think that it’s it’s incompetency. It’s inferior. And and and that’s what’s it’s it’s such the travesty. But again, we needed this wake up call for us not to get comfortable, for us to be on that, listening to Cafe Mocha in the mornings and Saturday to get these ratings up so when we go get try to get loans, that we can show our power.
We have got to do a better job. Like, I have this thing, and we’re doing it on February 10. Tamika Mallory will be my guest, on it’s called the three sixty effect. I turned 66, which I can’t believe, in December. Yeah.
I believe that. Yes. It’s such a blessing. Thank you. And so I was like, I had I reached out to 60 of my friends, and I said invite six people.
And then when I looked at that, this it was nothing with god. It was the three sixty effect. And this is before they start talking about this DEI. And and Monique Rodriguez, who was the founder of Mielle Organics, she did the call to action. And we were talking about we gotta support each other.
And we need to support each other, not when we’re on the come up. Because I look around when I was pushing, trying to get Monique, everybody, to recognize who she was, people didn’t want to help. But look at them now. Everybody’s around her. You know, Help people on the come up.
Let’s stop that. And that is part of our problem. We gotta support each other in the hustle. You know? What if I have something that you need, Lonnie or Angelique, it’s my obligation to help you.
You know, everything is not about an exchange of money, and we have to be intentional about supporting each other. We have to be. We have to be. If now, we’re gonna die. Can you explain what the three sixty effect is so I can plug it?
Okay. Well, what happened, it just it just it just worked out to three sixty. I was turning 66. I invited 60 of my friends to invite 60 of their friends, and it was about I know. My I have an amazing skincare brand, but, again, I want to build my d two c.
And for those of you that’s directly to the consumer, having this conversation, having people to understand that the win happens in the fourth quarter, never give up on dreaming. I don’t care how old you are. It’s just getting started because the win happens in the fourth quarter. And to understand that and, you know, and then I had people in there that were, you know, customers that were talking about how much they love the product and ambassadors, and it was just amazing. And so Tamika Mallory is gonna be on there talking about her experience and her experience with mental health.
You know? Because a lot of this, what we’re going through, we are already a fragile nation. Mhmm. And a lot of people are gonna suffer mentally. You know?
I know I had to, you know, go play golf this weekend because in Florida because my energy I’m like, this this thing is heavy. It’s deep because you know it could affect how it can affect so many people. We have to be intentional about supporting each other now more than ever. Wow. How can we keep in touch with you, Germaine, and also support you with your skin care line I know?
I I I appreciate that so much, Lonnie. And, you know, I love you, and you’ve gone up to Target. Mhmm. You know? And and and people you see, they were very receptive, but you can reach out.
I know skincare. Check us out. We had on bathing suits and fur coats, and everybody’s in their fifties and sixties, and we were rocking it. We were rocking it, having fun with this. So I know skincare, and then I have my trade show.
It’s entrepreneurship at its best. And, and I have, like I had to call some of my my sponsors to say, is this gonna affect your sponsorship dollar? And then when they said no, I said, well, can I get some more? You know? But and that’s Ubiquitous Women’s Expo, and I know skin care.
So I really appreciate that so much. And I know what we can do is make each other number one. Mhmm. Mhmm. Jermaine, I I’m on your website.
I know skin care, and Yeah. Your stuff is so affordable. Face products are so expensive, like 65, 70 5 dollars. These prices are really good. I’m I will be ordering some stuff online.
I will definitely be ordering. I appreciate that, but I want y’all to send me your address. I’m gonna I’m gonna send you some, and I’m a tell you how to use it. And it’s so affordable. The mistake that I made with the skincare line, it lasts too long.
It you know? But but as we get older, it’s so many pennies in the dollar. We like to find us the champagne. We like to travel. We you know, I did not I wanted us to have a great skincare product, and I worked with a black dermatologist.
We created this. What did we need? You know, as we get older, unfortunately, everything gets drier. And so it’s about infusing that moisture, getting the dead skin cells off, and then putting that moisture. And I have a a a moisturizer that has a 40 SPF.
Oh, wow. Without it. Yes. And it it moisturize. You will see the difference in your skin.
If you use it right, it’s very rich. You only need to use a little, and people are seeing a difference. I call it recreating skin fashion. I love it. You love it.
We love you, Germaine. She is Thank you. Helping us. I love y’all better. Mhmm.
Yeah. And I love great skin care. I cannot wait. I’m over here. Like, yes.
I can’t wait. I I’m just every word she’s I’m hanging on every word she says Yeah. Because I’m like, yes. My skin needs some some moisture and some Yeah. Because she dry.
And the care you say you’re putting in it, I can’t wait to see it. I just, you know, I I hear your back. I’m gonna send it. Please give Sheila your addresses, and I will definitely send it. But, again, we have to support these black brands.
I’m doing something with the lip bar, showing how mature women can wear red lip slits. Okay. And so when when you have when you when you have great skin care, we we make I know makes foundation a choice, not a must. I don’t wear foundation unless I’m glamming up. You know?
And you’re gonna get to a point where you’re not gonna wanna you wanna feel your bare skin. And so you’re gonna love it. You’re gonna love it. And if you don’t, I want you to tell me why, and I I’m all about I’m consumer centric. It’s all it’s all about being better and getting better.
Yeah. I’m about to take a skincare quiz. Right now, I’m taking the skincare quiz. You take it. Yes.
Yeah. And tell me what it says, and I’m a get the products to you. I appreciate you guys. I we want your listeners to be intentional about supporting each other. It’s not about being anti any other group.
It’s about being pro who you are. That’s right. Definitely.
So thank you so much. Thank you. Keep doing the thing. I appreciate you so much. You too
