Ive been thinking about what we’ve come to know about dress + protest

During the civil rights marches we dressed in a polished manner to show/justify our humanity. Fast forward, the fall out of that is respectability politics + real consequences for those of us who look “diff”

We are seeing this cycle happen again only further proving that no matter how we try to dress for survival, it’s to no avail

We wore hoodies, BLM tees + Black statement tees to honor those lost + protest but now we stray away from those things for fear of being targets...

After 2012, you can see a shift in Black men’s style — It may seem unrelated but it isn’t: Suiting + more polished/prep style has become popular

This is not just trend but a self preservation tactic — Getting as far away from the hoodie/look they deemed dangerous

“Trayvon Martin who was shot + killed while wearing a black hoodie; Michael Brown, Jr. sported baggy attire when he was shot. Freddie Gray wore a gray windbreaker attached with a hood“

“In society today, dressing up
has become a life or death choice” https://mashable.com/2015/08/08/black-men-dressing-up-police/