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Zola Removes Plantation Wedding Venues From Its Site

Color of Change wrote a letter to Zola noting that “classic,” “elegant,” and “glamorous” were a few of the tags featured alongside pictures of plantations.

Zola, a wedding planning platform in the U.S., joined Pinterest and The Knot in ceasing to promote plantation wedding content and venues on its site. The decision was in response to a campaign from the civil-rights advocacy group Color of Change. In a letter to Zola, the advocates wrote, “The decision to glorify plantations as nostalgic sites of celebration is not a compassionate one for the Black women and justice-minded people who use your site.” Zola spokesperson Emily Forrest told BuzzFeed News on Thursday: “We recognize that this is a painful issue and have been evaluating on an ongoing basis,” adding that they will continue to work with Color of Change to “ensure our policies and guidelines are inclusive and make everyone feel welcome.” Forrest also said that Zola is “actively evaluating” posts featuring wedding content on plantations. 

In the letter, obtained by BuzzFeed News, Color of Change also mentioned that “classic,” “elegant,” and “glamorous” “are just a few of the tags that your site uses to describe the places where many of your readers’ ancestors were tortured and stripped of their most fundamental rights.”