Sewn From the Soul - proj by Street Etiquette

[JKISSI]

Originally Posted by Listi

I loved it so much. I grew up in a small white town, and am at the whitest university in my country, and sometimes it's easy to fall into the, I think, quite recent stereotype, that all black guys dress like rappers in horrible baggy clothes. It's like, with the knowledge in the back of my head that there is also a sort of stereotype that black guys are naturally stylish, it doesn't usually come out in my thoughts.

I feel like this post sounds weird and racist, if I was asked point blank if I thought black guys dressed badly I'd probably say "no" but if I were asked point blank about how I would describe a black guy's manner of dress yesterday, I'd probably have said "Baggy jeans, baggy hoodie, nikes." or something along those lines.

I feel like if you asked me that today or tomorrow I'd have a much less discriminatory response. So, while I hope this post doesn't open me up to any sort of hate or anything, you've made someone a little more conscious of the negative stereotypes they didn't even know they had, and helped to erase them.

Originally Posted by APK

I get what Listi is saying. I live in a city that's become predominantly black. The average teen or twentysomething dresses as Listi describes. I try not to draw generalizations about people based on their clothes, but with that predominance of style, it is easy to forget that there are plenty of young black men who dress with the elegance of Josh and his crew.

I don't feel offended in any way by the post you made, because African American guys are portrayed in a one dimensional fashion all across the board. I don't want to even mention the personal characteristics we get labeled with just to end off that it's unfortunate. This is no place to complain about the current state of things , but to hope for better. I'm glad this post has revealed some verity in your mind - When we realized that we could use our blog as a platform to motivate and inspire people we charged at full throttle.It's awesome to actually change the public consciousness with projects like this.

Originally Posted by tigerFormula

the editorial is not workin for me? am I missing something?

Are you able to see it now? Must be a java error/bug

Originally Posted by Teger

nice photography but you guys should copy edit a little harder on the written portions of your articles.. although i just end up looking at the nice pictures

I did the same after it was too late... thanks

 

[acidboy]

hats off to you, JKISSI... not only to your 'project' but also to your positivity. racial stereotyping not only occurs there but all over the planet, and guys like you are what stops the world from accepting this fallacy.

 

[London]

Listi what rock do you live under. You sound utterly ignorant.

 

[TrailofTears]

Originally Posted by London

Listi what rock do you live under. You sound utterly ignorant.

Being cognizant of your stereotyping and limited world view and showing both a willingness and desire to remedy those issues is the opposite of ignorance.

 

[JKISSI]

Originally Posted by TrailofTears

Being cognizant of your stereotyping and limited world view and showing both a willingness and desire to remedy those issues is the opposite of ignorance.

Was just about to say something similar - nice

 

[London]

So your telling me, that being cognizant of your stereotyping makes it ok? Not buying. He knew what he was saying by stating, "I know that this post sounds weird and racist."

 

[London]

If you say dumb **** on this board, you're going to get called out. Why would you think this case would be any different. What he said was a lot more grating than the newbies who ask about whatever new denim is supposed to be trendy.

 

[TrailofTears]

Originally Posted by London

So your telling me, that being cognizant of your stereotyping makes it ok? Not buying. He knew what he was saying by stating, "I know that this post sounds weird and racist."

Originally Posted by London

If you say dumb **** on this board, you're going to get called out. Why would you think this case would be any different. What he said was a lot more grating than the newbies who ask about whatever new denim is supposed to be trendy.

I think his preface served to call himself out, and he didn't need your help. Furthermore, my post said more than "being cognizant equals acceptability"; it had something about working to improve one's world view and outlook. You should try to work on it as much as Listi, but only one of you is trying, which makes your attitude worse than his, IMO. However, we're both guilty of hijacking a thread that should be reserved for opinions on JKISSI's project, so we both kind of suck.

 

[theom-]

Its workin now.
Great editorial, great video, great photgraphy. This project is ******* bomb. The written verse at the beginning of the video was especially great.

 

[London]

Trailofteara, I don't need to work on it, because I would never come out of my mouth and make a claim like that about a race of people. Don't equate with that dude. I was speaking to him directly with my response and he doesn't need you to jump in and defend him.

 

[xwhu8myricex]

Jkissi, You are inspirational. I'm a huge fan of your work.

 

[streetminimal]

Diggin' the track for the video. Great stuff.

 

[Listi]

I made my post in order to let JKISSI know that he'd made a positive change in my views in life. I'm very sorry that I don't live in Brooklyn, London. Not everyone has the opportunity to live in New York City and experience the vast amount of culture there. Are you actually going to demonize me for being born in the suburbs, and to call me ignorant for wanting to grow? JKISSI obviously worked so hard on this project in order to make a positive change in the world, and he's made a positive change on me. You should realize that people who have had other experiences and may have different ideas and issues does NOT constitute ignorance or a failure of character.

 

[London]

Listi, I understand that you don't live in Brooklyn, but you can cut out one outfit, get a plane ticket and travel. That will help you open up your perspective on things. If you ever come to the city, hit me up and I'll show you the scene.

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by JKISSI

As one of my favorite forums I wanted to just chime in and present a project I have been working on for black history month with my friends. As 20 something year olds we wanted to make sure we do justice. I knew I wanted to pay homage to Black History month but in a unique way so we mixed style and history was the best route.

http://streetetiquette.com/2010/02/1...om-the-soul-2/

for the full post video and editorial

http://streetetiquette.com/sewn_from...omTheSoul.html

Sewn From the Soul is an online editorial project brought to light by seven friends who have all collaborated together in order to see a bigger picture; ultimately meshing and intertwining Style and History. History is important as it gives us the ability to trace back what has occurred previously to help us better direct ourselves to the future. Style contributes to one's overall character and truly dictates our persona in everything that surrounds us. We all contributed our individual style to this editorial and used a primarily monochromatic palette to assist the Black History Month theme.

Thoughts?

Saw this the other day, wondered why you didn't post about it on SF! Great article, great cause, doing some community service for real.