When we created this project, we had three layers in mind: the individual wearing the shirt, the orgs making the shirts (us designing/distributing, as well as the printers and textile manufacturers), and the orgs the profits would support (initially, the ACLU and hues). Our goal was that all three layers would work symbiotically to enact justice.
We believe that individuals and organizations choose how they show up: you can show up for justice, or allow injustice to proliferate in your absence.
Since launching this project, the ACLU has taken several steps in a direction we cannot support. Most recently, their decisions to represent Milo Yiannopoulos in a free speech lawsuit and to defend white nationalist protestors were the final two-punch combo that knocked us our of their corner.
We could write for pages why we’re making this decision, but Chase Strangio, one of the ACLU Staff Attorneys, represents our feelings succinctly in this tweet:
Here is my personal statement on today’s ACLU lawsuit defending that horrible person. I speak only for myself. pic.twitter.com/4KzsoqnmUn
— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) August 9, 2017
There are lots of sides to this, and a lot of folks will be landing on different ones from us. That’s fine. But from this point forward, 50% of the profits of this project will go to support the Southern Poverty Law Center (our original #2 choice to the ACLU), who have been taking a strong stance against white supremacy, white nationalism, and racism — and reacting to contemporary political events in ways that we believe will move us toward a more just world.
Unfortunately, this project hasn’t yet been profitable, but the good news is that means we haven’t sent any money to the defense of nazis. And we’re hoping that as we recuperate our initial costs, and continue to sell shirts, prints, and stencils, we’ll be able to send money to support the SPLC’s work.
In the meantime, we encourage you to do that on your own today by making a donation directly to the SPLC.
