Target Celebrates Black History Month By Honoring Handmade Craft

Celebrating its sixth year in 2021, Target’s Black Beyond Measure is an exclusive collection that features a wide range of products made by and for the Black community. “This month is an opportunity to really honor the past and the journey of our ancestors while celebrating the present and manifesting and investing in Black futures,” said Flora Ekpe-Idang, Target senior brand marketing manager, in a company blog post.

Featured in this year’s Black Beyond Measure collection are several handmade decorative bowls and bangles created by All Across Africa, that proudly carry the Nest Seal of Ethical Handcraft. This Seal was created to generate industry-wide transparency and compliance for products being made in homes and small workshops by artisans and makers. All Across Africa, a B Corp employing 350 women in Rwanda and Uganda exemplified a high level of compliance with the Nest Standards, giving it access to the Nest Seal of Ethical handcraft which appears on hang tags of each of the All Across Africa items included in Target’s Black Beyond Measure collection. The Seal ensures worker wellbeing, fair wages, and positive impacts on women and their families.  All Across Africa is also a 2018 Nest Artisan Accelerator graduate — Nest’s intensive 360-degree program providing integrated support that puts select high-performing artisan businesses on an expedited path to growth. The combined impact of the Accelerator program and the partnership with Target are providing economic wins that are helping to spur broader social impact in the communities in Rwanda, which takes on even greater significance when considering that unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to fall around 80%.

With Target’s Corporate Newsletter, A Bullseye View stating that Black Beyond Measure is “ focused on celebrating Black life every day of the year as part of (Target’s) ongoing commitment to support and uplift the Black community,” this is an incredibly impactful moment for the Nest Seal of Ethical Handcraft and All Across Africa artisans to celebrate.

View the Black Beyond Measure collection here.