I recently came across Blacklava, a California-based company that sells what IMdiversity.com dubs “Asian American-themed apparel with a political consciousness.” Blacklava caters almost exclusively to the Asian American community. It offers T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers with messages like “I Speak English,” “I Suck at Math,” “I Will Not Love You Long Time,” and “I Am Not a Terrorist.” As Blacklava puts it, it’s “clothing for a new state of mind.”
Ryan Suda started the company in 1992 initially for surf wear, but soon after progressed to T-shirts intent on raising cultural awareness and civil activism. His first protest shirt displayed the slogan “Asian, Not Oriental.” Through the years, Blacklava gained a strong cult following within the APA community. Perhaps the most commendable aspect of Blacklava’s mission has been its unwavering dedication to APA independent artists. It sponsors the “Tuesday Night Cafe Project,” which showcases local underground musicians and spoken word poets while fundraising to bring art resources to inner-city APA neighborhoods.
Grateful as I may be that such a company thrives for my community’s benefit and embraces political participation, I admit that I find most of the message tees, well, distasteful and chintzy.
Moreover, wearing a message tee like “Got Privilege?” ironically transforms a very serious message into a trendy commodity I cannot possibly take seriously. It simply does not emanate that same provocative humor-from-pain essence of Margaret Cho comedy, which I assume was the original point.
Also, I suspect they may in fact do more harm than good. Seeing an Asian American wear a T-shirt that reads “I Suck at Math” or “I Will Not Love You Long Time” hardly makes me think, “Wow, he or she really defies the stereotypes.” Rather, it makes me think, “Wow, he or she is neither creative nor powerful enough to instigate social change in a productive way.”
Doubtlessly, as a conservative young professional, I am not Blacklava’s target audience. However, even my college-aged liberal-leaning sister, to whom such apparel would much more likely appeal to, would be subject to ridicule from me if I caught her wearing these tees. This is because sporting these messages on your person speak less about the socio-political issues at hand and much more about the immaturity of the individual wearing it. In a balancing test, the scales weigh unequivocally in favor of a more adroit mode of civil disobedience.
I absolutely love how Blacklava promotes APA musicians and artists. I also love the fact it sells books and other publications I would have trouble finding elsewhere. Above all, I hold the company in highest esteem for going to great lengths to give back to its community. It’s just the slogans that make me cringe. “I Am Not White”? No, really. I’m not. And in case you didn’t already figure that out, you can read it off my chest.
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13 Comments to “Blacklava Apparel: For Asians, By Asians, But So What?”
Xxxtine wrote:
Interestingly enough, just recently the Yellow Fellow Clothing Company – the Happy Face with an Asian twist – who did a lot for the community up here in Toronto – pretty much closed shop because the founders have all grown up.
Posted on 05-Aug-07 at 1:17 pm | Permalink
yoko wrote:
I may be in the minority on this (um, pun not intended), but I kind of like those t-shirts. Given that I live in the city that has this establishment, the “I Speak English” t-shirt may be appropriate. Does that make me not “creative nor powerful enough to instigate social change in a productive way”? Perhaps.
Posted on 05-Aug-07 at 5:25 pm | Permalink
Xxxtine wrote:
What’s frightening from the link yoko posted was that out of approx 64680 votes, 66% agreed with him. Though I find fault in how that particular question is worded because agreeing with him and encouraging English are two separate things.
In any case, I find the T-shirt slogans not to be particularly clever or witty. The ‘I Suck at Math’ could’ve been a creative graphic of a failed report card grade or the ‘I Speak English’ one could’ve been changed to ‘I Understand’ which holds more of a universal meaning and could be taken so many ways.
Posted on 05-Aug-07 at 5:49 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
I like Xxxtine’s “I Understand” t-shirt. There’s marketability there, for sure!
Yoko, you’re not a lone dissenting voice here at all. In fact, I’d say the overwhelming majority of Asian youths would find appeal in these message tees. I mean, comparatively, they sure are better than the other message tees I’ve been seeing, aka “I’m sleeping with your boyfriend.” Now what on earth possesses anyone of any thought paradigm to think wearing such a message tee would be tasteful?! So yeah, in light of that, the Blacklava tees are a very fresh alternative.
Maybe this isn’t even a race-based posting at all, but a very general fashion suggestion, which is stay away from message tees altogether?
Posted on 05-Aug-07 at 7:59 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
On that note, 8A should definitely post that link in a separate entry and comment on it! This is definitely compelling stuff right up our alley!!
Posted on 05-Aug-07 at 8:04 pm | Permalink
yoko wrote:
Heh– Akrypti, I’m a little too old to be considered a youth (sad, but true), but I must say that I do shy away from wearing message tees. And those shorts with words across the butt. They’re just not for me.
But by all means, if any of you 8As want to write about about the “Speak English” sign, feel free! I’d be interested in hearing this community’s take on it.
Posted on 06-Aug-07 at 6:13 am | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
I once saw a girl wear short shorts that said across the butt “Spank this Skank.”
Hmm…these comments are getting so off topic….
Posted on 06-Aug-07 at 6:59 am | Permalink
Xxxtine wrote:
I think most on the 8Asians roster can’t actually be considered ” a youth” eventhough we look it.
I *heart* my printed tees and recently boxed my beloved T that had the word “Pissy” across the chest.
Posted on 06-Aug-07 at 7:19 am | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
I’m totally a “youth,” Xxxtine! I’m…16 years old. What, you didn’t know? ;-D
sigh…. at least the big 3-0 is still a few years away…few…
Posted on 06-Aug-07 at 8:04 am | Permalink
Kareem wrote:
As someone who loves t-shirts with silly, stupid or offensive comments on them even I wouldn’t wear these. Though part of me would love to wear the “I’m not a terrorist” shirt next time I travel and am ‘randomly’ chosen for security screening, but I don’t want to be put on any “No-Fly” lists.
Posted on 06-Aug-07 at 9:45 am | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
Ryan Suda is a friend of mine, so I’m biased. I don’t wear t-shirts, but I do like what he’s trying to do.
I don’t believe the shirts do more harm than good because if you take the context of the kind of people who are buying and wearing these shirts; for the most part they are young Asians who are informed and aware of the issues AND active in the community. I don’t believe these people would wear anything they thought was chintzy, but helps them communicate things in a non-traditional way…
I would rather Ryan make an “edgy” shirt than A&F or Gap or some other corporate conglomerate doing it and trying to make some sort of “statement” with them.
If you know Black Lava and the people who Ryan works with, they are people who are highly respected in the APA community, particularly in the arts.
I also have to take issue with when you say, “Wow, he or she is neither creative nor powerful enough to instigate social change in a productive way.” Is wearing a shirt like this and making social change mutually exclusive? Of course not.
Many people I’ve seen wearing these shirts DO make social change, not simply by wearing these shirts, but by extreme dedication to various APA causes. Some of the folks in the LA APA community who are active and vocal will support people like Ryan/Blacklava who have shown over time that they are dedicated to the causes APAs care about and aren’t just out there to make a buck.
Posted on 06-Aug-07 at 2:25 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
I never believed wearing a shirt silk-screened with an in-your-face this-is-my-political-stance T-shirt and productively making social change were mutually exclusive. However, I do believe it’s tacky. Like why would I walk around town with a shirt that said “NEO-CONSERVATIVE” or “I GENERALLY SIDE WITH REPUBLICANS” on it?
Plus, if I were someone who disagreed with the message on your tee, but perhaps open to hearing the other side to understand it better, I would immediately assume that a person wearing such a tee would NOT be open to hear ME out. So I simply wouldn’t approach them and thus that person and I would never have the opportunity to engage in healthy and educational debate. What’s more, the entire time I conversed with that person, every split-second judgment I made of him or her, which we make all the time of people we just meet, would be filtered through the message on that tee. Now is that really what we want?
Posted on 06-Aug-07 at 2:53 pm | Permalink
Bertie wrote:
Well if it’s a profitable gig, someone’s buying them, right?
Posted on 07-Aug-07 at 11:36 am | Permalink
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