Announcing: The Black Joy Hoodie Collection
This one started at home.
Not in a studio. Not with a brand strategy.
But in conversation—with my kids.
I had wanted to support the Black Joy Parade by buying hoodies for all of us. However, when I looked at the total for four, I paused. As a single parent, it just wasn’t something I could do all at once. I also didn’t want some of us to go with and others without.
For a moment, I caught myself thinking: I can’t afford this.
And then I caught that thought.
Through my Buddhist practice, I’ve come to understand that everything is cause and effect. I didn’t want to stay at the effect of that story. So I asked a different question:
What can I create instead?
That question turned into a process.
I started designing—but quickly realized this couldn’t just be my vision. If the hoodies were for my kids, they needed to feel like them too. So I asked for their input. Then I asked again. And again.
What colors felt right?
What words actually meant something to them?
What would they wear—not just once, but often?
Over time, the designs became something we shaped together.
And somewhere along the way, it became clear that this wasn’t just about making hoodies.
It was about honoring a part of their identity.
This collection celebrates the unyielding power of Black Joy Rising.
Inspired and co-designed by my children—whose heritage weaves together lineages from Africa and Asia—it is both personal and expansive. It reflects a lived experience shaped by movement, memory, and connection across cultures and generations.
At its core is a simple but powerful understanding:
Black joy is not fleeting—it is rooted, cultivated, and continually rising.
We grounded this collection in the idea of 深根 (Shēn Gēn — Deep Roots).
Like the oak tree, whose roots stretch far beneath the surface, our histories—spoken and unspoken—form an unshakable foundation. These roots carry ancestral knowledge, survival, creativity, and love. They remind us that even in unseen spaces, growth is always taking place.
From this foundation, Black Joy rises.
In laughter.
In music.
In movement.
In resistance.
In everyday acts of being.
It is both quiet and expansive—held within families and shared across communities. Shaped by those who came before, and reimagined by those who come after.
The design reflects this journey.
On the front, Black Joy Rising sits above 深根, forming a vertical silhouette that resembles a torch or a beam of light cutting through the sky—a reminder that Black joy is a light that cannot be extinguished.
On the back, the message expands:
Deep Roots → Boundless Brilliance
An oak tree anchors the design—a tribute to Oakland, home of the Black Joy Parade since 2018. Its roots run deep. Its canopy stretches wide. It holds both grounding and growth at once.
Even the details carry intention.
The typography bridges cultures—bold serif forms alongside expressive Chinese calligraphy—reflecting both modern identity and ancient lineage.
The palette is deliberate:
- Black, because black is beautiful—and the color of creation when we gestate in our mothers’ wombs and when acorns are sprouting amidst the earth’s soil
- Khaki, because it is cross between yellow, brown and white, which reflect the multiple cultures touched by the African diaspora
- White, for those of Black heritage who are light-skinned
- Gray, because it is a mix of black and white, honoring the many shades of gray in how we have mixed within Black identity
- Pink and blue, acknowledging the spectrum of Black feminine and masculine energies
Every choice is a small way of saying: this story is layered, lived, and still unfolding.
This collection is a tribute to continuity and becoming.
To the ways we endure, adapt, and create.
To the ways we carry what came before us—and grow beyond it without leaving it behind.
Rooted deeply.
Rising fully.
Flourishing without limit.
More than anything, this collection holds a feeling I wanted my kids to recognize and remember:
That sense of being surrounded, reflected, and at ease.
That sense of belonging without question.
That sense of home.
And if it can offer even a small piece of that feeling to someone else—then it has already done more than I could have imagined.
If you’ve read this far, you already understand that this was never just about making a hoodie.
It was about noticing what matters.
Listening more closely.
Creating something rooted in who we are—and who we are becoming.
This collection carries that intention forward.
If it resonates with you—if it reminds you of your own roots, your own story, your own sense of becoming—we’d be honored for you to carry it with you.
The Black Joy Hoodie Collection will be available on April 28.
A date that, for us, holds meaning, memory, and new beginnings.
Until then, thank you for being part of this story. 🙂
Here’s a preview of the front and back of the hoodie design in black:
