To all my beautiful customers,

I first want to thank all of you for supporting me as an artist and small business owner, and thank those of you who have reached out to me with kind words.

I have taken down the Blue Bracelet Movement listings and page from my website. I will explain this further down in this statement, but if you placed an order you will receive a direct email from me offering you a refund. Should you accept the refund I would encourage you to donate that money to a cause that you feel supports one of the many issues currently at stake.

When I first decided to make blue bracelets, the trend had only begun hours before. It began as a movement for women to show support, safety, and solidarity through wearing a bracelet. Criticism came out the next day or so, with concerns of it being performative. I addressed this in my last email, stating the ways that I was personally going to be taking action. I thought that these actions mitigated any performative-ness on my part as an individual. I have since been educated and realize that this it is not so simple.

I have learned that there are many other concerns beyond this regarding the blue bracelets. A large concern being the widespread effect of performative “activism” and it causing fewer people to actually participate in real activism, whether they realize it or not. By posting a photo, or wearing a bracelet, or some other gesture, people, maybe not you personally, or maybe not consciously, but people as a whole feel they have “done something” and therefore, that is where they stop. They believe, or their brain has been signaled to believe, they have done the work. And while this may not be true for so many of you, in the big picture, it is the truth. So if my making bracelets and selling them, even if those funds are going towards just causes, is in the big picture contributing to less people taking real action, then I don’t want to contribute to that.

Secondly, while my initial research into this cause showed some criticism, it showed an overwhelming amount of support as well. Maybe it was because it was so new, maybe it was the sources I had been looking at. But I first understood this movement as a safety tool for all women and groups being targeted through this election. To show solidarity and safety to ANY person in any of these groups. It was not made clear to me, or I didn’t realize, that this movement was created to signal to Black women who is safe. Obviously, I do not want to partake in a movement FOR Black women that Black women are not supporting. So I apologize, because I missed the mark on or misinterpreted that, and that’s my fault.

I have spent hours today thinking about all of this, learning so much, trying to navigate the “right” thing to do. And I don’t know that I have figured it out, to be honest, or that I ever fully will. I have received so much support from women, including many Black women, about this movement. But in the last day more and more criticism of this movement has come out, specifically from Black women, the women who these bracelets were initially intended to signal safety to. And I can’t in good conscience contribute to it if it’s not being met with resounding support by those it is intended to be for.

I want to personally apologize to anyone that this upset or offended. That was never my intention. When I decided to make these bracelets, I thought it was a good movement at the time and only meant to do good, raise money for some good causes, and try to reach out a hand to and stand in solidarity with likeminded people. Clearly it’s not as simple as that, and this movement isn't quite what I thought it was. I never meant for any negativity to come from this. I'm just a girl who loves to make things and support causes I believe in, but I also make mistakes and I'm learning.

Most importantly, I just wanted, and still want to offer love and support to those who I know were also devastated after the election.

If anyone has any questions for me or would like to speak more about this please feel free to reach out - margitmakesthings@gmail.com.

Thank you all for your support, kindness, and understanding. We’re all human and we’re all learning.