U.S : This Black Woman Makeup Artist Got Fired by MAC for looking too "urban".

Maya started her petition, "#MyMacStory" after being  fired by MAC for looking too "urban." Join Maya to demand  accountability from MAC for upholding racism in the  beauty industry.  Take Action

Dear friend, I’m asking you to support my petition titled “#MyMACStory,” and demand accountability from MAC for the racial hostility I experienced while working with them. Working at MAC was a nightmare. My manager racially harassed me and then fired me without due process. I felt excited about joining the team at the Colonie Center Macy’s in New York as an independent consulting makeup artist. But, things quickly went downhill. I experienced countless racist comments from white women colleagues and customers. My white manager accused me of giving free products and makeovers to my friends and family. When it came to my schedule, I got little advance notice about my shifts, which made family life difficult and earning a living wage almost impossible. Most outrageously, manager said I looked “too urban” for our clientele. Then, after my manager’s failure to properly communicate with me about my schedule, I was told to go home, and I never heard back about additional shifts. I learned I was fired without a sit-down with the manager or an explicit conversation. Please support my petition to demand MAC set higher standards for a racially equitable and inclusive work environment. We’ve strengthened Black representation in marketing and products, but have not strengthened diversity behind the makeup counter. MAC claims to celebrate “diversity,” “individuality,” and “social responsibility.”1 But, MAC didn’t feel diverse or socially responsible. MAC didn’t treat me like an individual — they treated me  like a bad stereotype. MAC needs to do better by Black women. As a makeup artist, I come from a proud, long legacy of Black Women innovators who break barriers in the beauty industry.Despite Black women’s brilliance creating and setting the trends you see in fashion magazines and on runways, our beauty innovations are often unrecognized, stolen or culturally appropriated.2 Black women are some of the hardest working, highest educated, and least paidworkers.3 As a makeup artist, I also sold makeup retail products. Black workers in retail are funneled into lower-paid, lower-ranking, part-time positions. A 2015 research paper on the retail race divide predicted that if retailers like MAC stopped the practice of undercutting workers with involuntary part-time work, we could reduce overall poverty by 2% with greater impact in Black and Brown communities.4 Please sign my petition to demand a more racially just and less hostile workplace for Black women at MAC. I hope that together we can push MAC to be a beauty industry leader in the ways it treats Black women. Black women spend $7.5 billion a year on beauty products. Retail workers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and artists like me deserve to earn our fair share. Thank you, Maya via OrganizeFor Take Action References 1. Our story. MAC Brand website. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/109735?t=14&akid=22212%2E1942551%2EAy8L1z 2. 19 Black women who broke beauty boundaries and made history. 2 February 2017. Refinery29. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/109736?t=16&akid=22212%2E1942551%2EAy8L1z 3. Black women have to work 7 months into 2017 to be paid the same as white men in 2016. 28 July 2017. Economic Policy Institute. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/109737?t=18&akid=22212%2E1942551%2EAy8L1z 4. The retail race divide : How the retail industry is perpetuating racial inquality in the 21st century. 2 June 2015. Demos. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/109738?t=20&akid=22212%2E1942551%2EAy8L1z

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