Last week, on the M5 city bus traveling uptown on Amsterdam Avenue, in Manhattan, I saw a very interesting and unusual sight--a portly, middle-aged white man wearing a black heritage-themed T-shirt. As he stood in the aisle talking to the lady seated next to me and her husband who stood next to her, I was able to jot down what was printed on the shirt:
"Dream Like Martin
Challenge Like Rosa
Inspire Like Barack
Write Like Maya
Build Like Oprah
Educate Like W.E.B.
Fight Like Malcolm
Believe Like Thurgood
Speak Like Frederick
Stand Up Like Colin
Lead Like Harriet
Champion Like Ali"
Obviously this was a man with respect for black historical figures and was not shy about showing it.
I have a co-worker at the call center who proudly shows his afrocentricity by wearing T-shirts with photos of such icons as Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and Malcolm X. But I've never seen him wear a T-shirt like the aforementioned one.
I'm not much for wearing logos, slogans, and photos on clothing. But the T-shirt I saw on the bus is worth owning if only to display it as an alternative and a corrective to the profane and narcissistic ones I've seen people wear on the streets of Harlem and elsewhere.
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