AfriCOBRA believed it was important to express joy and positivity not only aesthetically with their use of bold “coolaide” colors and kaleidoscope style but also verbally by including text and phrases that promoted harmony, community, and uplifting messages. Waddsworth Jarrell would often compose his figures out of the letter “B” for black and further use text by including excerpts from speeches by figures such as Angela Davis and Malcolm X throughout the composition of his works. Carolyn Lawrence and Gerald Williams would promote messages of accountability and unity that was saturated in the slang of the times such as, “can you dig it?”, “we don’t be jivin”., and “say it loud”, in reference to the popular James Brown song Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.

i have a strong aversion to rly getting into this kind of discussion on my blog, and guys i promise this is like, IT on this, but kinkade is new and we have to start things off right, im begging! so, essentially

im sure u have heard grape soda or ‘grape drank’ stereotypes? its basically the same thing, and in fact grape koolaid is often the cornerstone of the joke. its a cross between a class and race joke, because koolaid is cheap and poor kids drank lots of it, so it is also calling black ppl poor. if u spend any time on the black side of the internet ur gonna see more than a few #relatable memes, jokes, and memories about koolaid and being mocked about koolaid specifically

if you just google ‘black people and kool aid’ the very first hit is a cnn report from THIS FEBRUARY 2018 abt nyu serving ‘kool aid and watermelon water’ for a black history month event. the third hit on google for this search is the wikipedia page for ‘stereotypes of african americans’, and without scrolling all the hits after that are offensive entries to urban dictionary titled ‘kool aid’ and ‘black people’ about how kool aid gives them their power and other such fun things that ive gotten to think about this evening!

As one of the co-founders of the Black Arts Movement collective AfriCOBRA, fashion designer Jae Jarrell made one-of-a-kind clothing using the bright hues the collective called “Coolade” colors. Jarrell’s vibrant garments exalt black families and culture and were worn by the artist in her daily life. She wrote that her Ebony Family dress “always got good vibes from our members, no doubt, because my political stance on nurturing the strong loving Black family is real, and personally experienced. We regarded the members as extended family.” 

Especially since I can't open the trunk so I have to go in through the back seats~

I love my prius but it's- it's- uuuugggghhhhh whyyy Coolade??

I've made a Kinkance blog!!! Take a look @sharpshot-through-theheart if you're interested!!