When some of the first Black Lives Matter movements took place after the murder of Trayvon Martin, I got a call that shook me. My Auntie called me, scared, to request that I become my nephew’s guardian. She wanted to send him away from his home, away from the possibility of him becoming another protest, away to somewhere that she believed would be safe. She thought that he, a young Black child, would be safer here with me in the UK, than in the US. Trying to make her understand that Black people in the UK were also being assaulted, murdered, disproportionately sentenced and imprisoned, was difficult. Why? Because we don’t speak about it. We don’t hear about it. It doesn’t make the news.

Every other day on Twitter, I noticed threads of other communities coming together to support each other when certain things happened. However, I was not seeing the same unity when these tragedies were happening in our community – no one seemed to be there when the stuff hit the fan. As a former youth worker, and a mother, I was inspired to do what I could to support my community and to change things for the better.

I work a 9 – 5 job, and I (like many others) am trying to raise my child in this current social environment; where she is constantly being fed images that don’t look like her and narratives that tell her she has nothing to offer, in a world that that fetishizes her features, that demonises her complexion, that mocks her culture, that belittles her languages and tells her that she is not, was not and will never be enough… It is so important that I, as her mother, empower her to love herself, her skin, her heritage and teach her to be proud of who she is! That is why I started IBERE APPAREL.

When someone confines your History to a month, they are telling you that you and your contributions only have value, for one month of the year! That is not only false, but very wrong! It impacts how we see ourselves, how we treat each other and how we react to violations against us and our children. As a mother, I see it as my duty to be part of a movement to create a world, where we can be proud of our history and who we are.

IBERE APPAREL was created to enable us to proudly and publicly Celebrate Black History and Culture 365 days a Year! Our brand is for everyone – we have a wide variety of products from Mugs, to T-Shirts, to Pins, Stickers, Cards, Stationary and more! With our products, you will have so many ways to express your pride in your history & culture, as well as to remind yourself and others of your greatness, each and every day!

IBERE APPAREL is here to tell the world: We don’t need a particular day to love one another, we don’t need a particular day to remember who we are. We are Black 365 days a year, so let’s Celebrate Black History and Culture 365 days a Year!