When Noel Gordon Jr., 28, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, learned that the state has some of the worst racial disparities in the U.S., he decided to co-found Reparations Media & Apparel to call attention to them. Based in Minneapolis, the political art and streetwear brand sells products that try to provoke conversations about race, racism and white supremacy. Its products include a T-shirt with the words "Black & Queer & Proud" and a sticker that says "Dear America: Make More Brown Babies." At a time when more than half of Americans say that race relations in the U.S. are getting worse, according to a Pew Research Center report published in April, Reparations Media is trying to build points of connection between strangers through humor.
Q: Why did you and co-founder Ryan O'Leary name your company Reparations Media & Apparel?
A: The name is a testament to the fact that black people in this country and in many parts of the world are not in economic positions to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. It will require people coming together to advocate for reparations to be able to lift people of color and communities of color out of the economic situations they find themselves in and to allow them to create lives that they want to lead. It was both a call to action as well as a recognition of where we are and where we should be.
Q: How important is it to you that your product designs are created by a team of queer, women and minority entrepreneurs?
A: It's important because there currently isn't a very economically just ecosystem for artists and entrepreneurs, especially artists and entrepreneurs of color in Minnesota. That's why we felt so strongly about making sure we could do this in a way that would allow people to be paid a living wage, while at the same time, giving credit to the artists and designers and making sure that their stories or visions are told. There aren't many other places in the country, let alone in Minnesota, where you might get that level of economic, community or social support.
Q: What feedback have you received from people who have visited your pop-up shops?
A: It's been overwhelmingly positive. The look that comes upon their faces is what gives me the motivation to continue going because it seems as though what their expression is saying is, "Now I feel seen or now I feel heard because perhaps no one was speaking for me in the ways that I wanted to, and your brand helps me do that in an unapologetic and honest way." That has been the way that we've moved through the world and it's been great to see people respond.
Q: What kind of revenue increases has the business seen?
