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black woman behind the “f*ck your racist grandma” sweaters says it’s time to make people uncomfortable

December 5, 2017
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New Jersey-based student Olatiwa Karade has been designing clothes and putting together AFROPUNK looks for some time, but only recently did she create Splendid Rain Co., the in-your-face political clothing line behind sweaters like the one that reads “F*ck your racist grandma.”

Can’t wait to restock for y’all! I love your enthusiasm and support ❤️

A post shared by Splendid Rain Co (@splendidrainco) on Nov 26, 2017 at 1:36pm PST

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Karade says the racism especially in progressive spaces got too much to bear, and so she decided to make a statement. “I was heavily supporting Bernie Sanders, and I think a lot of people weren’t talking about the other side of racism and hate we were seeing, a lot of which was coming from a lot of liberal people on the Bernie side,” she told Huffington Post. “Whenever he would come out and talk about Sandra Bland, or talk about anyone who was a victim of police brutality, of racism, of prejudice, his following would really go on their ‘all lives matter’ tirade. I just felt extremely excluded and felt like I didn’t have a voice when it came to race relations.”

Other sweatshirts include one that reads “Don’t touch me, don’t touch my hair, don’t touch my culture,” “Africa is not a country” and “Columbus was a murderer,” which she wore to school on Columbus Day. “I wore it around school and posted a photo on Facebook,” she said, “and people were like, ‘We love this so much, when will you make them?’”

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day

A post shared by Olatiwa💎 (@misskarade) on Oct 9, 2017 at 6:04pm PDT

Karade says the response has been overwhelmingly positive, proving that now is the time many have been waiting for to say what is on their minds. “I had to realize that it’s human to be upset about something that was upsetting, and I had a right to feel anger,” she told HuffPo. “If I’m stopping myself because I’m angry, I need to figure out how to make that into something else and recreate it into something productive that helps me cope with my anger as opposed to just sitting in it. ”

Missed this sweater? It’ll be restocked THIS WEEK! I’ll let you know when! So keep checking ❤️

A post shared by Splendid Rain Co (@splendidrainco) on Nov 26, 2017 at 4:18pm PST

“We have this generation of people who are like, ‘Oh, yeah, my grandparents lived through three separate revolutions but they’re old and sweet,” she said. “And I’m like ‘OK, but they also vote.’ We have to be honest about the people in our lives and who we need to educate. You can love your grandma, I’m not saying don’t love her, but you also need to be saying, ‘You know, grandma, black people are human.’ That’s an important thing to say to her.”

You can buy one of these dope sweaters on her Etsy page now!

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