Original painting and poem by Kassy Kova.
“Don’t shoot.” “Don’t shoot.”
How many times must those words echo
from our last seconds of life?
Emancipation once etched
in a declaration
that sought to unravel a nation’s hypocrisy -
Tell me: what is free and fair in a society that exploits?
A country rises to power through capitalist gains -
but what of the labor that grew it,
that marched in chains?
Those United States comprising “America”
are stitched together by swaths of stolen lives.
Indigenous people, torn apart from their land -
their cultures -
their civilizations -
Dark-skinned humans became corpses
*became skinless skeletons
*became the backbone of a white-skinned empire
The growth of White cotton fueled
by the suppression of Black freedom
Civil unrest, civil racism, civil chaos, Civil War -
Culminating in the Black dying
both for and against
their own enslavement;
That high-melanin kind who
“shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”
To emancipate the enslaved,
one must emancipate one’s mind
Mental slavery shackles the ignorant
And fears of inferiority
perpetuate myths of superiority:
Segregation - discrimination - deterioration
Cinching - flinching - lynching
Patriotism - racism - hate-ism
A system built upon the mantra of white supremacy -
A White House built out of Black blood -
Colored rooms in which we’re meant to shit
The better to fertilize this fertile land
Red lines splicing through neighborhoods
And suddenly, there is a wrong side of the tracks
Crime rates and inmates and privatized prisons -
Black on black in a cell block tango for profit
No matter the blues - the jazz - the bebop -
No matter the hip-hop - the rap - the swag
You can feel emasculated without
ever having been a man
Even quieter for woman | gay | trans
And you, there, in the black hoodie?
Soon to become the next black square
#blackout
Your arms rise to the edge of your tainted existence
Ambiguous ancestors scream
in shapes of kente
you can’t quite decipher
Sounds muffled by a shackled history
Even the past is quiet when
It is not invited to whisper
Onto the white pages of textbooks
Not even once a year -
For the roots still thrive
in this soft as cotton landscape
“Don’t shoot” you’ll say -
But they’ll call it looting -
For the roots
are
still
shooting.
This tote is not only art you can carry—it is a socially responsible choice. Crafted from 100% recycled open-end, pre-washed cotton, and approved by FAIRWEAR.org, it honors both earth and humanity. Every stitch supports ethical labor, reduced environmental impact, and a more intentional way of living.
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| One Size | 400 mm 15.75 inch | 370 mm 14.57 inch | 540 mm 21.26 inch |
Original painting and poem by Kassy Kova.
“Don’t shoot.” “Don’t shoot.”
How many times must those words echo
from our last seconds of life?
Emancipation once etched
in a declaration
that sought to unravel a nation’s hypocrisy -
Tell me: what is free and fair in a society that exploits?
A country rises to power through capitalist gains -
but what of the labor that grew it,
that marched in chains?
Those United States comprising “America”
are stitched together by swaths of stolen lives.
Indigenous people, torn apart from their land -
their cultures -
their civilizations -
Dark-skinned humans became corpses
*became skinless skeletons
*became the backbone of a white-skinned empire
The growth of White cotton fueled
by the suppression of Black freedom
Civil unrest, civil racism, civil chaos, Civil War -
Culminating in the Black dying
both for and against
their own enslavement;
That high-melanin kind who
“shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”
To emancipate the enslaved,
one must emancipate one’s mind
Mental slavery shackles the ignorant
And fears of inferiority
perpetuate myths of superiority:
Segregation - discrimination - deterioration
Cinching - flinching - lynching
Patriotism - racism - hate-ism
A system built upon the mantra of white supremacy -
A White House built out of Black blood -
Colored rooms in which we’re meant to shit
The better to fertilize this fertile land
Red lines splicing through neighborhoods
And suddenly, there is a wrong side of the tracks
Crime rates and inmates and privatized prisons -
Black on black in a cell block tango for profit
No matter the blues - the jazz - the bebop -
No matter the hip-hop - the rap - the swag
You can feel emasculated without
ever having been a man
Even quieter for woman | gay | trans
And you, there, in the black hoodie?
Soon to become the next black square
#blackout
Your arms rise to the edge of your tainted existence
Ambiguous ancestors scream
in shapes of kente
you can’t quite decipher
Sounds muffled by a shackled history
Even the past is quiet when
It is not invited to whisper
Onto the white pages of textbooks
Not even once a year -
For the roots still thrive
in this soft as cotton landscape
“Don’t shoot” you’ll say -
But they’ll call it looting -
For the roots
are
still
shooting.
This tote is not only art you can carry—it is a socially responsible choice. Crafted from 100% recycled open-end, pre-washed cotton, and approved by FAIRWEAR.org, it honors both earth and humanity. Every stitch supports ethical labor, reduced environmental impact, and a more intentional way of living.
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| One Size | 400 mm 15.75 inch | 370 mm 14.57 inch | 540 mm 21.26 inch |
