Harlem's BLM Movements Have a Whole New Look
Stylist Gabriel M. Garmon decided to organize a demonstration in Harlem, paying respect to George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who was killed by a police officer last month. He hoped that many other black men in the area would join him. However, Garmon didn't want this to be an ordinary demonstration. He encouraged all the participants to show up looking "your best," as a way of paying respect to Floyd, whose funeral would be happening in Minneapolis on that same day. "We wanted to honor him and our other lost brothers and sisters in a way that felt appropriate,” says Garmon who organized the event with the help of friends and fellow Black creatives Brandon Murphy and Harold Waight.
The event took place on 125th Street at 10 AM. The amount of people who showed up in their nice clothes far exceeded Garmon's expectations. Several people wore shirts with the phrase "Black Lives Matter" on them, along with their three piece suits. Others dressed in the styles of 1960's activists. Others wore clothing with bright patterns that they had purchased from local clothing stores. But all participators tried to wear their best clothing. “I asked myself, would I wear this to someone’s funeral? To a relative’s funeral? How would I bring myself?” says Elias Hightower, a fashion consultant who was among the demonstrators who took to the streets. “I almost wore Vans with my suit, but I knew I couldn’t do this by halves. This was really about changing the narrative and showing the power of dress.”
Participants also brought handmade signs supporting the movement, and the black members of the LGBT community, specifically the black trans community. “It was such a peaceful experience, it was such a unifying experience and that’s all we wanted,” says Tiffany Ray-Fisher, a local choreographer and organizer who spoke at the event. “No matter our gender or what industry we’re in, it is upsetting to us on a deep level that our presence can be scary to people. Our chant was: We’re not to be feared. When people heard that, they were hanging out of their windows clapping for us, cheering us on.”
For Garmon and his cohorts, this is just the beginning of a much larger movement. “It doesn’t stop here. And I really want to highlight that. We all need to register to vote, we all need to be more vocal,” says the stylist who is in the midst of organizing a second demonstration, this time to commemorate Juneteenth. “Change is coming soon, I know that.”
Report: Anna Bechtel
At the rise of Covid-19 many of us first questioned the timeline of fashion week and would we see the regular calendar continue - the question weighed over many of us for months! It was refreshing to see design houses and designers across the globe take advantage of the uncertainty and plow into production mode - thus my interest in Jerri Reid New York - The Black Designer based in Brooklyn New York wow’d instagram with his latest collection paying homage to the Black Is King film which debuted earlier this year in July. I was taken aback at quick of a turn round the young designer produced and released his well crafted designs reflecting some of the films most memorable moments.