In 2016, arguably the peak of activist apparel’s popularity, a number of businesses began to sell t-shirts, crewnecks, tote bags, buttons, pins and stickers with variations of the following: “I am not my ancestors; you can catch these hands”.
It is understandable why variations of this phrase caught on so quickly. The last five years have inspired a new generation of activists and organizers, a lot of us unfamiliar with the history of the movement for racial justice and with the philosophies of the Black nationalists who came before us.
Jogo Corpo Fechado 