Starbucks Reverses Black Lives Matter Clothing Policy: "Just Be You"

Starbucks is now allowing its employees to wear whatever Black Lives Matter clothes they would like.

BYCole Blake
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Starbucks is reversing its ban on employees wearing independent Black Lives Matter clothing while working. "Just be you," the COO and vice president for inclusion and diversity of Starbucks said together in a new letter to partners, Friday.

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“As we talked about earlier this week, we’re designing new t-shirts with the graphic below to demonstrate our allyship and show we stand together in unity,” wrote Roz Brewer, the COO of Starbucks, and Zing Shaw, Starbucks’ vice president for inclusion and diversity. “Until these arrive, we’ve heard you want to show your support, so just be you. Wear your BLM pin or t-shirt. We are so proud of your passionate support of our common humanity. We trust you to do what’s right while never forgetting Starbucks is a welcoming third place where all are treated with dignity and respect.”

“Together, we’re saying: Black Lives Matter and it’s going to take ALL of us, working together, to affect change,” the letter continues. “That means using our voice to vote in our elections, volunteering in our black communities, joining local peaceful protests, ensuring our diverse slates of job candidates translate into diverse hires, mentoring and sponsoring partners of color so they can reach their maximum potential and taking steps to build greater understanding with empathy.”

Brewer and Shaw have told employees to expect more guidance on June 15.

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About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.