Protesters ask NuLu businesses to sign contract promising ‘changes’

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Protesters have demanded action from NuLu businesses and want them to sign a contract promising they will make changes.

Protesters sent out a three-page contract to NuLu businesses following Friday’s protest where LMPD says 76 protesters were arrested and charged with obstructing a highway and disorderly conduct. Some also picked up assault charges, accused of throwing bottles at police officers.

The contract calls for a 23% representation of Black employees, business owners, and staff participation in diversity training and ordering businesses to donate a certain percentage of profits to Local Black Organizations if NuLu businesses cannot fill their stores with 23% of merchandise from Black-owned brands.

It states the demands must be met by August 17, with a 5% increase in Black representation every six months.

By signing the contract, NuLu businesses, “acknowledge that my business has played a part in the harm done to Clarksdale’s original residents.”

Part of NuLu was previously known as Clarksdale. Protesters state in their contract that the original Clarksdale residents were actively rejected and pushed out of their community.

Angie Garner, the owner of the art gallery Garner Narrative, has already signed the contract and hung it in her window, which was another demand by protesters.

“I felt relieved to see the demands!” Garner wrote in an email to WAVE 3 News. “I read through them and was so happy to see that I can actually DO all these things... In my eyes, (the contract) is not a matter of providing validation to Black Louisvillians, but correcting unjust practice and sharing out opportunity. The people who need to learn the Clarksdale history are mostly white.”

While Garner looks forward to implementing all of the demands, including incorporating diversity training and attending round-table discussions led by Black women, another business owner in NuLu who did not wish to be named told WAVE 3 News the contract feels like a “punch in the gut” after suffering through the coronavirus pandemic.

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