Raven Gibson may be pursuing a career in science, but the biochemistry freshman is using her artistic voice to promote acceptance of natural beauty standards for black women.
Gibson started a clothing line, Legendary Rootz, to try and help empower black women who may not feel equally represented in the beauty world. She said her diverse environment in high school helped her shape the way she thought and saw the world.
“I went to a pretty diverse school,” she said. “There was a major percentage of blacks and Hispanics.”
Not only would her environment be inspiration behind her major project, but a popular social media website, Tumblr, would be the primary inspiration behind the formulation of her clothing line.
Biochemistry freshman Raven Gibson sporting her clothing lined called Legendary Rootz.
(Emily Johnson/ The State Press)
Tumblr, a popular website among teens and young adults, often generates creativity and ideas within many, especially Gibson.
“I follow a lot of people who are a part of ‘black Tumblr’,” Gibson said. “I would see many posts that promoted black beauty and that’s how I got interested in the topic.”
Gibson, who recently transitioned to wearing her hair naturally, said the process of becoming natural also inspired some of her pieces for her clothing line. Some of her pieces include sayings such as “Twistout Season” and “Embrace Natural Hair."
Legendary Rootz has grown tremendously over the past year where Gibson has extended her unique message onto not just clothing, but coffee mugs, phone cases, tote bags, decals and more.
“My favorite saying on the shirts I designed says ‘I am Black History,” Gibson said. “We only get one month out of the year, but for us, black history is 365 days a year.”
Gibson’s clothing also features sayings such as: “#Unbothered," “Rebellion Is Not a Crime” and “I Refuse To Be a Trending Topic.”
Gibson said recent current events such as the police killings of Ferguson, Missouri, teenager Michael Brown and New Jersey man Eric Garner have been a strong influence on her some of her clothing.
“In the news, there’s not a lot of positivity about blacks,” Gibson explained. “It only seems to be about when someone is shot or someone gets arrested. I want to show people that there are actually positive things about us.”
Despite the uproar from recent current events, Gibson said she was proud when #Blackoutday invaded the Internet and was one of Twitter’s trending world topics. #Blackoutday, started by a Tumblr user, is a day dedicated to the promotion of black beauty and culture, where social media users were encouraged to post selfies.
“It was amazing,” Gibson said. “I really loved what the Internet did with (the topic)."
Grace Berry, global health sophomore and Gibson's friend, said she loves the positive message Gibson promotes with her clothing line.
“I like that her clothing line is encouraging to young black people and that it promotes black excellence,” she said. “I like the message behind her clothing line because it shows that black people should have pride in themselves and not be ashamed.”
TaMara Farmer, Gibson's friend and journalism freshman, agreed with Berry and praised Gibson for her work on the clothing line.
“I love that Raven's clothing line allows you to feel proud about yourself,” Farmer said. “It's not just a bunch of T-shirts that say black power; but they say 'unbothered' or 'twist out season.' It's a more modern way to say I'm black and I'm proud.”
Farmer said Gibson's success stems from her personality.
“Raven definitely has a strong personality," she said. "She always says what she thinks.”
Gibson hasn’t just limited her creative mind to her clothing line. She also runs a YouTube channel called “ThatsSoRaeRae," where she produces how-to and lifestyle videos, as well as promoting self-confidence in young girls.
Gibson’s plans on continuing her clothing line throughout the next few years and wants her positive message to extend beyond the ASU community.
“Black culture is absolutely amazing,” Gibson said. “I just want to show the positivity of our people and our culture.”
Reach the reporter at sgreene6@asu.edu or follow @thesydneygreene on Twitter.
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