Seersucker and Madras inspired by @theblackivybook by @garmsville and @ivyconnection
Seersucker Suit: J Press, thrifted
Cotton Square: No label, thrifted
Silk Knit Tie: Lands' End, thrifted
Madras Shirt: J Crew, thrifted
Desert Boots: Clarks, thrifted
Notes on BLACK IVY: A Revolt in Style
Many artists argue that once you put a work of art out into the world you never know how it is going to affect others, how it will hit, how it may resonate with people. The following notes represent how the work of art that is BLACK IVY resonates with me.
BLACK IVY is a work of beauty; a work of freedom; a work of community. In essence BLACK IVY represents what Black people have been doing since they arrived in the Americas: creating beauty, constructing community and extending what it means to be free--the very meaning of freedom.
BLACK IVY is not about Black Americans wanting to be white. Contrary to what many Americans argue, this means that Ivy is as much Black as it is white and--just as the United States itself--always has been. In other words, without the contributions of Black Americans the U.S., and thus Ivy, would simply not exist. (I say this while acknowledging the imbalance of power and wealth--between Blacks and whites--that always has been, and continues to be, present within American society. Clearly, work still needs to be done and BLACK IVY is part of that work.)
BLACK IVY continues and builds upon the work of African Americans like the poet Phillis Wheatly, work that the historian and literary critic Henry Louis Gates Jr. convincingly argues to stand for "the creed that culture was, could be, the equal possession of humanity". Historian David Hackett Fisher credits this creed to people like Wheatly and calls the idea of culture belonging to all people, equally, "something new in the world--an expansive idea of freedom and justice, truly for all humanity to share".
As I admire BLACK IVY I imagine myself involved in this ongoing process of extending freedom, and justice, and culture, to all, equally. Although 'imagined' the significance and potential power of an "imagined community"--a socially-constructed community--as American political scientist Benedict Anderson has shown us, should not be underestimated. We can all help construct this community. BLACK IVY is also an invitation to all people to help construct this community.
Finally, similar to artists like @feliciathegoat, another member of this imagined community, I take inspiration from "older black dudes that dress ill". :)
