Watermelon, Fried Chicken and Thick Women

Welcome to another E.B.W.S. blog. At E.B.W.S., we don’t sell apparel. We sell Statements. Our clothing is an embodiment of our ideas, aspirations, inspiration, and beliefs. Wearing our apparel serves as a reaffirmation of our greatness. Our designs are more than fashionable. They are thought-provoking, engaging, and serve as a mentality changer.

Before I continue with this blog, read this excerpt from the book The MIS-Education of the Negro

“They do not realize, however, that even if the Negroes do successfully imitate the whites, nothing new has thereby been accomplished. You simply have a larger number of persons doing what others are doing. The unusual gifts of that race have not thereby been developed, and an unwilling world, therefore, continues to wonder what the Negro is good for.”

That passage was profound, wasn’t it? You get hit with that passage early in the book. Honestly, after reading that, a brotha was rocked to his core. Straight, no chaser type of shook. In this blog, I will touch on the very meaning behind that passage.  I will talk about something that is important to an individual’s happiness and is critical in business and especially as an entrepreneur, and that is self-identification. Yes, I know this blog is titled Watermelon, Fried Chicken, and Thick women. Still, no, I am not going to talk about those things directly, although they are at the top of my personal favorites list. This blog title’s goal was to symbolize how certain ideological artifacts help to define black culture. The title gets to the idea of embracing self-identification and rejecting assimilation when it gets to the point that assimilating means compromising who you are as an individual.

Just about every brotha I know tends to have an affinity for fried chicken, watermelon, and thick women. Some would argue that it is part of our DNA. In my Sir-Mix-A lot voice, “we like big booties, and we can not lie.” Just as in every culture, some staples exist that define the black experience. Movies like Ice Cube’s Friday and New Jack City…” I never liked you anyway. Ya pretty motherfucka” serve as staples. If you don’t know where “damn, damn, damn” came from, you might have your black card revoked. We have traditions that serve as gatekeepers to the black experience, like playing Monopoly the “black” way and needing to know which aunt made the macaroni and cheese. These are just some of the experiences that help define what it is to be black. These experiences are what has bonded us as a community and what made us different from our counterparts. Has every black person had these experiences? No, but if you are black, then my guess is you know someone who can identify with many of them.

Why is self-identification significant? In a nutshell, self-identification brings a diversity of ideas to the boardroom, diversity of products to the marketplace. Being unique is the lifeblood of entrepreneurship. Ever notice how many of the products being sold today look very similar. The regurgitation of ideas is the product of living in a country where assimilating to the cultural norms have become commonplace. Assimilation is the killer of innovation and creativity.

At E.B.W.S., we believe maintaining the black experience will continue to take our apparel to new heights. Uniqueness and innovation in style is our calling card. Is our swag for everyone? Nope, it is not meant to be. If you value knowledge, formal or otherwise, and like to look good while making a statement, you “might” want to start rocking with E.B.W.S., just saying.

Welp, it’s been real, folks, and until next time, holla at ya boy.