NEW YORK — Black Public Media (BPM), the Harlem-based national media arts nonprofit, is spotlighting the environmental crisis in the third iteration of its award-winning series and social media campaign BE HEARD. BPM has commissioned Big Couch Entertainment for BE HEARD: #ShopLikeNana to alert the public of the environmental crises caused by fast fashion and to promote the advantages of up-styling used and vintage clothing. Premiering on Monday, September 9, during New York Fashion Week and presented by BPM in partnership with Paramount+, BE HEARD: #ShopLikeNana will be available to view on blackpublicmedia.org and BPM’s TikTok and other social media platforms.
BE HEARD is a two-time Anthem Award-winning, social media campaign designed to bring attention to important issues facing Black communities. BPM identifies a theme and then commissions a filmmaker to create content addressing it. This year’s campaign aims to amplify Black voices in the global conversation on climate.
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BE HEARD: #ShopLikeNana encourages consumers to rediscover style and reduce fast fashion by shopping in their grandmother’s closet, their own wardrobe or local thrift stores. The goal is to encourage people to think about the value of their clothing beyond the purchase price and celebrate time-honored culturally resonate sustainability practices. The issue is timely: The fashion industry, the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply, is already producing 10% of global carbon emissions and polluting our oceans with microplastics. Per the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, left unchecked, the explosion of clothing production could see the fashion industry accounting for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Fast fashion has created a textile waste crisis, causing devastating impacts to people of color around the world. BE HEARD: #ShopLikeNana is designed to activate Millennial and Gen Z shoppers, who are more engaged than older generations in addressing climate change.
Big Couch Entertainment’s Sophia Clark, a New York Emmy-nominated content creator who directed the last iteration of BE HEARD, will direct the #ShopLikeNana campaign. Inuka Bacote-Capiga will produce original content featuring comedian Katrina Davis (Comedy Central, America’s Got Talent) as a satirical late night show host covering a segment on fast fashion’s role in climate change.
“We are excited to partner with Paramount+ to sound the alarm on the growing environmental crisis that fast fashion presents,” said Denise A. Greene, BPM director of programs. “We look forward to working with Big Couch Entertainment to elevate the voices of those working to combat climate change through creative and sustainable fashion choices.”
In addition to the original programming, influencers will be invited to contribute content to the trend #ShopLikeNana on their personal channels to amplify the message and sustainability practice. Sean A. Watkins(@seanawatkins), owner of the consulting and cultural media firm Agency of Joy, will serve as the public face of the BE HEARD: #ShopLikeNana campaign.
As part of the campaign, BPM will launch a web page offering sustainable fashion resources.
#ShopLikeNana joins previous incarnations of BE HEARD, the first of which premiered in 2020 with a focus on voting ahead of the presidential election. In 2022, BE HEARD: I Am Who I Say I Am addressed gender diversity and affirmation.
BE HEARD: #ShopLikeNana will be available on Black Public Media’s TikTok account (@BlackPublicMedia) and its Instagram, YouTube and Facebook platforms, and on www.blackpublicmedia.org/watch/beheard-shoplikenana.
