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Branding for Black Liberation
The case for why white companies shouldn’t benefit from Black struggle
From enslavement to “Black Lives Matter,” the Black diasporas have always branded themselves, and when they do it’s commodified by white institutions. When Black fashion, design, style, and art become popular, they somehow fill the inventories of your favorite department stores for consumption.
The emergence of Black dandyism, for example, in 18th century Europe, was born out of “luxury slavery” where white owners would dress enslaved people in expensive clothing to broadcast their wealth. Those same enslaved people, however, used their state of oppression as a means of liberation and personal agency. Because Black people always find a way to be fly #AF.
Black struggle is often, if not always, repurposed and sold in mass production. Unfortunately, Black social and cultural movements get co-opted, commodified, appropriated, and expropriated for someone else’s gain, which contributes to erasure or dilution of intent.
However, there’s a long history of branding for Black liberation that’s rooted in strategic and revolutionary design. Too long for me to share. I’ll write a book about it one day, I promise. For now, here are some examples:
