CNN
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Two black radio hosts in Arizona could be a potential roadblock if Kanye West ever decides to sell his “White Lives Matter” T-shirts in the United States.
Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, hosts of the weekly racial justice radio show Civic Cipher, became the legal owners of the phrase’s trademark for use on clothing late last month. The story was first reported by Capital B.
Assuming ownership of the trademark for the phrase “White Lives Matter” was a difficult decision for the hosts, they said, but they agreed to do so “once it became clear that someone could make significant profits from it, because as you’ve seen, Even though he (West) says some really hurtful, divisive and sometimes crazy things, he has a bit of a fanatical following and every time he releases something, he burns himself out,” Ward told CNN.
He said that the phrase has more staying power than they would expect and that, at best, no one will say the term for months to come.
The hosts see owning the brand as a “responsibility” that includes making sure it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
They didn’t want anyone to potentially benefit from the term that the Anti-Defamation League has categorized as a “hate slogan.” The phrase is used by white supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, and is described as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The trademark was first filed last month, data from the US Patent and Trademark Office shows, on the same day that West wore a T-shirt with an image of Pope John Paul II on the front and shoulders. words “White Lives Matter” written on the back. . She wore the shirt during a surprise runway event held at Paris fashion week.
The person who initially secured the brand transferred its ownership to Ja and Ward’s company, Civic Cipher LLC, weeks later, according to data from the US Patent and Trademark Office. CNN has reached out to the original owner for comment. .
Civic Cipher told CNN that the brand’s original owner is a listener of his show and wishes to remain anonymous.
Ja told CNN that ownership of the trademark means having the exclusive right to sell clothing under that term. When the listener learned that the rapper-producer “repopularized” the term, “I think that move was mainly to make sure other people didn’t benefit from it.”
Ja and Ward don’t know why the listener initially bought the rights to the phrase, but speculate that when the term went viral again, the listener “no longer felt like he was the right person to champion those efforts.”
Over the years, West, who legally changed his name to Ye, has made multiple inflammatory statements that have angered many in the black community, including his insistence that slavery was a “choice” and that “racism is an outdated concept. And his recent anti-Semitic comments caused companies he was affiliated with to end their relationships with him, thus ending his tenure on the Forbes billionaires list.
Civic Cipher is a national program that began in 2020 to create a space for Black and Latino people to have courageous conversations.
The black community is “beyond rapping and singing” and the show goes beyond what a listener would normally hear on a hip-hop radio station, Ja told CNN.
“We deal with police violence, housing inequality, environmental racism, we deal with maternal health outcomes, things that disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities.”
Source: news.google.com