Pull Up For Change founder Sharon Chuter launches Make It Black initiative at Ulta to redefine what it means to be Black

Last June, Uoma Beauty founder Sharon Chuter channeled the momentum garnered for Black Lives Matter into the viral #PullUpOrShutUp challenge – and now she’s keeping the same energy with the new Make It Black campaign launched in partnership with Ulta.

The Pull Up For Change movement challenged the beauty industry to be honest and transparent about diversity and representation within their organizations. Frustrated by how beauty brands profit off of diverse marketing campaigns and broad shade ranges but do not employ BIPOC at the corporate level, Pull Up For Change exposed internal employment stats and resulted in pledges to change.

Eight months later, Sharon Chuter came to collect.

To celebrate Black History Month, Sharon launched the Make It Black initiative to transform iconic brands into inclusive brands. Make It Black partnered with nine brands including Briogeo, Colourpop, Dragun Beauty, Flower Beauty, Maybelline, Morphe, Nyx, Pür, and Uoma Beauty to create a curated limited-edition collection of iconic products – all repackaged in limited edition Make It Black packaging, sold exclusively at Ulta Beauty, as well as the individual brand websites and the Make it Black website.

This includes a Morphe Make It Black Continuous Setting Mist ($16), ColourPop Make It Black Cream Gel Liner ($7), and Maybelline Make It Black SuperStay Liquid Lipstick ($10), among others.

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Pull Up for Change Impact Fund

All of the gross profits from the products will go directly to the Pull Up for Change Impact Fund, which will help support up-and-coming black entrepreneurs. Sharon hopes to raise $5 million, with the goal of seeding around $25k-$100k to each entrepreneur, which will be voted on through a public pitch contest.

“One of the reasons we are focused on deploying cash is because Black founders are often over-mentored and under-invested,” Sharon told Glossy.

Emerging black founders will pitch their ideas in a public setting online, and the public will vote on each pitch to help decide where funding will go. This will not only allow for the entire initiative to be more inclusive but help allocate funds to ideas that real people want.

Redefining what it means to be Black

Make It Black is also hoping to rewrite what being Black means by revising the language and negative connotations associated with the word Black.

“Language is so important because it shapes our collective consciousness,” Sharon told Glossy. In the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, the word “black” is associated with dirty, evil, and wickedness. Sharon created this initiative to recast the definition of Black to be more encompassing, including associations with timelessness, chicness, and luxury.

“Black is synonymous with luxury, it is considered timeliness and classic (the little black dress), it is formal (black tie event),” Sharon told Marie Claire. The Make It Black founder has already created a Change.org petition to change the Oxford English Dictionary definition of Black. You can sign it here.

The limited-edition collection of Make It Black products will be available exclusively at Ulta Beauty during the month of February. All gross profit will be donated to the Pull Up For Change Impact Fund. You can also donate directly to the fund here. To make your shopping a little bit easier, here’s a list of all products in the limited edition collection: