Jules A

Fitness Instructor /Yogi/Wife/Daughter/Sister/Lover Of God and All Things Beautiful

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: https://t.co/zsAZZSIoGq

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

@ActuallyEmerson @SordidWedding ❤️

[Phoebe Robinson @dopequeenpheebs]

CAN A BLACK WOMAN MODERATE A DEBATE, PLEASE?!? This ignorant AF behavior would be shut down IMMEDIATELY. Chris Wallace is horrible.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

You missed the mark on this one, Tititka. I hope you will take this feedback as an opportunity - not just to put more black people on your social media feeds and website, but to live up to the diverse, inclusive brand you occasionally claim to be.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

voices, agency, and struggles of the black people they so desperately need as customers.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

implicit and systemic racism that has oppressed black lives for over 400 years in North America. Furthermore, this is a time for brands like Titika to own the unquestioned racism that has led them to operate their business in a vacuum of whiteness, completely oblivious to the

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

black voices represented in their social media and management teams. If Titika wants to use my image to represent its brand, it needs to hear my voice. This is not a time for lifting spirits - it is a time for combating injustice, for fighting bigotry, and for dismantling the

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

lifting people’s spirits. Black people have faced slavery, lynchings, subjugation, and injustice for the last 400 years - so I am not here to “lift spirits” after a few uncomfortable weeks. Titika would understand this if they consulted me before using my photo - or if they had

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

In

Making matters worse, the caption posted below Titika’s unauthorized post of my photo does not represent how I am feeling at this time. “@julialongandlean lifting our spirits so we don’t feel so blue.” This is not my voice and - to be blunt - this is not a time for levity or

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

to this criticism, Titika removed the black square and replaced it with a photo of a random, smiling black woman wearing their bra. That black woman is me.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

Titika jumped on a social justice bandwagon in an attempt to foster an image of diversity and inclusion, when that is clearly not the brand’s real identity. I am not the only black woman to have criticized Titika’s co-opting of the BLM / BlackOutTuesday movement, and in response

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

one black person is pictured. The same is true of Titika’s social media presence - it is blindingly white. the context of this stunning lack of diversity, it was not just hypocritical for Titika to post a black square for “Black Out Tuesday,” it was exploitative.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

Titika does not have adequate representation of black people in their ambassador program or in their social media feed, and this clearly reflects a lack of diversity in their executive and management staffing. Take one glance at Titika’s website, and you’ll see what I mean: not

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

By posting this photo without my permission, without the permission of the photographer, and without the implicit permission of having commissioned the photograph, Titika has made me feel like a prop in their campaign to look like a politically correct and inclusive brand.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

The photo used by Titika was not commissioned by Titika and it does not belong to them. It was commissioned by my former employer, and captured by a visual artist and vocal ally against racism, Briony Douglas, who was also not credited by Titika.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

beauty for hundreds of years in North America.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

Titika did not consult me, ask for permission, or even make an attempt to notify me before using my photo today. Titika appropriated my photo for their own purposes, an action that embodies the same racist disregard for blackness that led to the theft of black lives, culture and

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

and repeatedly shared my discount code with my clients and friends - but I was never called upon to represent the brand at any event and I was never featured on Titika’s social media until today.

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

From 2017 to 2018, I was an Ambassador for Titika Activewear. This was a big deal for me - I hoped to use my role to represent women of color in fitness and support a brand that makes quality garments for women of all sizes. I used my discount to purchase Titika’s merchandise

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

I am choosing to address this issue in the public forum so that the weight of this issue can truly be understood in the context of black peoples’ ongoing fight for justice.

I want to make a few things clear at the outset:

[Jules A @JulesyInLA]

Dear Titika,

If we were not in the midst of what can only be described as “a much needed overthrowing of racist institutions around the world,” I would have tried to resolve this issue in a private, direct communication, but that is not the case.