2 Black radio hosts now own the White Lives Matter brand. How they will use it | CBC radio

Read transcribed audio

Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, shone the spotlight on the controversial phrase “White Lives Matter” when he wore a shirt with the slogan during Paris Fashion Week last month.

Originally he wanted to sell such shirts, but he had to overcome a few hurdles to do so. That’s because the trademark for the phrase is now owned by two black radio hosts, Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward.

“In the area where it’s trademarked, so think fashion, we can prevent people from having a tax incentive to mass-produce these clothes, these shirts,” Ja said The currentis Matt Galloway.

Yes and Ward, radio show hosts in Phoenix, Arizona Civic cipherofficially received the stamp at the end of October from a local listener who wished to remain anonymous.

Ja said the owner felt he wasn’t in the “best position to speak up with black issues” and thought the sentence’s protection was better suited to being in the hands of Ja and Ward.

“In a short amount of time, they reached out, spoke to us about … an assignment of a brand, and basically put them in our care for us to make the decision,” Ja said.

“This person felt that we had the right temperament, perspectives and led with love. And I felt that the brand would be in good hands with her [Quinton] and me in Civic cipher.”

Sometimes the opposition looks a certain way. Sometimes they look just like us, and that might be a little more hurtful.-Ramses Yes, co-host of Civic Cipher

After the show told Ja The current that the next step is hopefully assigning the mark to either the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) or the Anti-Defamation League.

For now, the brand is giving the duo sole ownership of the slogan — and the right to sue anyone who uses the phrase for monetary gain.

That doesn’t necessarily stop people from painting the phrase on their own clothes, Ja said.

“You just can’t go into a store and buy it unless it’s been listed for sale by Civic Cipher LLC — and I have to be careful here, I’m not sure you’ll ever see that.”

Silence harmful phrases

However, the decision to take over the brand wasn’t easy for Ja and Ward, due in part to the phrase’s history as a response to the Black Lives Matter phrase.

“We as [Black] People felt the need to affirm that our lives matter, that our lives have value and are valuable, and that we deserve to live and to grow old,” Ja said.

“But the phrase ‘White Lives Matter’ was born to be antithetical in response to the claim that black lives matter. At no time was there ever a question of whether or not white lives matter.”

Ja said he and Ward spent several days pondering whether they made the right decision in taking over the brand.

But in a country like the United States “where non-Black people’s feelings are more of a priority,” Ja said, they felt a responsibility to minimize the potential for a world where hateful and harmful phrases like “White Lives Matter.” , “ are normalized.

“We are already fighting relics of slavery in this country,” he said. “The Confederate flag comes to mind. We have to walk past parks named after Confederate generals and see statues of those people.”

“We’re trying our best to create a reality where everyone can be comforted and centered, and that includes black people.”

Despite owning trademark for the phrase, Ja said that “at the moment, based on everything we know to be true, we have no intention of putting this shirt in any stores for people to buy.” .”

He doesn’t expect anyone to come to him and Ward with “enough money to take it [away] the smiles we saw, the little bit of joy we saw,” come from communities like the black, brown, and Jewish communities.

“Sometimes the opposition looks a certain way. Sometimes they look just like us and that could be a bit more hurtful,” he said. “But sometimes the heroes look like us.”

“It gives us a good feeling to see that our people are doing well.”

Produced by Howard Goldenthal.