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Fashion

July 5, 2020

Fashion Activism – Chunky Sneakers

“I’m afraid my dad will get deported.”

Like a knife, the sentence cuts through the conversation. There are no words of condolences to offer. Only a deep silence of understanding as we sit and try to grasp the injustices of our world.

“My family doesn’t want me driving. They don’t want me interacting with the police.”

When the conversation is long gone, I think back about what I could’ve said. Should I have uttered the typical, “everything will be okay?” When even I do not find those words comforting. There are no words to alleviate their fears, so we listen. We listen, but we do not need to be silent.

When I think about my friends whose lives are impacted by the corrupt laws of society, I ask myself, what more can I do? The only contribution I can come up with is making sure I live outside my bubble of privileges. When there is an opportunity to vote, we do it with conviction
because there are some that cannot. Even if it is dangerous, we protest, demanding fairness for those wrongly murdered. If there is a social issue that needs to be brought to attention, speak it. Talk about it with purpose so we inspire the next generation.

Years from now, when I look back, and the history books are telling our stories, I hope the clothes we wore will express everything we wanted to say. Fashion activists continue using protest fashion as a means to push for social change. The chunky sneakers, pass down the dad shoes because we will fill in for the activists before us. Lace-up, the journey is not over. What a terrible thing it would be if our generation could change the world, but we chose not to.

I hope during these chaotic moments, we will be able to look inwards and find direction. This blog post is dedicated to my friends who courageously shared their stories, to the times I chose to be a part of the silent minority—that is who I was, but not who I will be. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my thoughts. I will see you in two weeks for my next post.