At rhyFlower Knits, we believe in creating a safe and welcoming space for everyone. We are committed to anti-racism and inclusivity, regardless of age, gender, religion, gender identity, ethnic or cultural background, sexual orientation, color, level of income, size, education, physical abilities, or location.
We are continuously learning and evolving, and here are some of the actions we are taking:
- Stand Against Bigotry and Discrimination: rhyFlower Knits stands against bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination, including racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, and sizeism. We are actively engaging in ongoing anti-bias and anti-racist learning as part of our team development and implementing this work in our business operations.
- Reject Intolerance: We have no tolerance for racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, or ideologies that seek to deny equal rights to all human beings. We acknowledge the privilege that this gives us in our business relationships and daily work and recognize our responsibility to leverage our privilege to move our industry towards equitability, by hiring, promoting, working with, and supporting Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and members of other marginalized groups in our community.
- Accountability and Learning: As we navigate our privilege and socialization, we recognize that we are not immune to making mistakes or committing harm. We center impact over intent and hold ourselves responsible for our actions and emotions. We pledge to be accountable, to be open to feedback and critique, and to accept opportunities to learn and to do better, with gratitude and humility.
Our actions speak louder than our words – below are the action items that we are currently working to achieve:
- Creating Safe Spaces: We ensure that our spaces, both physical and virtual, are safe and welcoming for marginalized people.
- Intolerance Vigilance: We do not allow behavior or words that compromise the safety of any person. We take responsibility for maintaining vigilance against intolerance and taking appropriate action to call out and prevent it.
Intentionality in Partnership
- Ethical Standards: We seek to conduct business with partners at the highest level of ethical standards. When building new working relationships, we commit to sharing our values and code of ethics as stated here to establish accountability.
- Diversity and Inclusion: We pledge to seek out, maintain and nurture relationships with businesses owned by women, non-binary people, trans people, Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, and people of other marginalized identities. We commit to encouraging applicants from marginalized groups to apply for test knits. We continue to ask prospective retail stockists what actions they take to foster an environment of equity and inclusion in their spaces, and how they ensure that their physical space is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible (when achievable).
Mental Health Advocacy
- Understanding and Compassion: We pledge to be understanding and compassionate towards the mental health challenges that people may face.
Pattern Production and Accessibility
- Inclusive Knitting Patterns: We pledge to publish knitting patterns that are inclusive of skill level, size, body shape, and gender expression, and that provide diverse instruction styles. When it is technically feasible for a design, we include instructions for customization to accommodate varying body shapes, sizes, and gender expressions.
- Accessibility Initiatives: We continue to explore initiatives to increase accessibility to our patterns for people of different income and skill levels. We will continue to educate ourselves on accessibility and will work to include low-visibility and screen reader-accessible versions of rhyFlower Knits patterns.
Please feel welcome to contact us with suggestions, and feedback, or to hold us accountable for the pledges we have made here. You can reach us via email at firstname.lastname@example.org.