Boston-based and Black-owned clothing and apparel company, 195essential, has partnered with Seed the Vote, a platform for organizers, activists, and community leaders to intervene in the election, to give back through the launch of their newest t-shirt collection, the ‘Essential Voter’ Collection.
Seed the Vote works with groups on the ground in Swing States to reach voters, help protect their vote, and persuade them to use their voting power during this important election. They aim to build progressive turnout and win—up and down the ballot. Their focus is on working with organizations that have deep roots in the communities where they are working. Seed the Vote’s goal is to defeat Trump while building the long-term electoral and organizing power of working-class communities and communities of color. To do that, the project aims to raise one million dollars to activate over 3,000 movement activists and organizers to reach over 1,000,000 voters. Their scope is national, but focused on the battlegrounds—Arizona, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
“Supporting like-minded organizations like Seed the Vote is one of the foundations of 195essential’s mission, which is why we are honored to partner with and support them as a part of our ‘Essential Voter’ collection launch,” said Jason Harris, Co-founder of 195essential. “By donating a portion of sales from this collection, we hope to aid in the fight for equality, and encourage people to get out and vote during one of the most important elections of our lives.”
Designed by three BIPOC artists from across the Northeast, the ‘Essential Voter’ collection will go live on 195essential’s www.195essential.com. For more information about Seed the Vote please visit www.seedthevote.org.
About 195essential:
Launched in May 2020, 195essential Clothing and Apparel honors and celebrates those deemed as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also supporting and highlighting the ideals, people and organizations essential to our community, country and our own lives. 195essential drives awareness and a renewed appreciation for the basics of life – family, friends, neighbors, work, food and human contact, and partners with businesses, organizations and individuals providing goods and services to essential workers to help alleviate some of the stresses they are facing on the job or in the home. For more information or to purchase a t-shirt, please visit www.195essential.com, @195essential on Instagram or www.facebook.com/195essential.
About Seed the Vote:
Seed the Vote started when a group of movement organizers came together to discuss the urgent threat that another four years of Trump posed for our communities, and to build a plan for how we could make a tangible impact on the presidential election--even if we don’t live in a swing state. We know that to sow the seeds of a better future for all of us, we need to not just vote, but organize to win big in November. Seed the Vote is a project of Everyday People PAC, a grassroots, social justice political fund mobilizing volunteers to defeat Trump by supporting the electoral work of grassroots organizations in swing states who are building the long-term power of working-class communities and communities of color.
About Michelle Callado:
Michelle Collado is a Dominican Multidisciplinary Artist born and raised in Lawrence MA. Growing up in Lawrence and raised by immigrant parents, she's realized that people of her everyday life is what inspires her. Her Artwork focuses on the themes and ideas of BIPOC representation, social issues, social justice, and internal and societal experiences. Using people as her subjects, she focuses on the subjects' relationships to themselves, others and the external spaces in which they may have encountered. Whether it's Photography, Film production, painting or illustration, she attempts to capture an essence of experiences or feelings in which her audience can familiarize themselves with.
About Fred White:
Originating in NYC, Change.49 creator and maker Fred White has been hand-painting clothing and textiles since 2003. His creative expression and aesthetic evolves from observing impermanence, playful spontaneity, and in recognizing the interdependence of everything. His work on clothing is done without planning or to a fixed idea of what it will become, but gently guided by change.
Fred is a practitioner of Vipassana meditation, B student of the I-Ching, average rock climber, dissonant audiophile, and sews with ‘Alice’ his grandmothers 1953 Singer Featherweight.
About Sydney Medina:
Sydney Medina is a 19-year-old Black artist from Princeton, NJ, who currently resides in New York City. She attends NYU’s Gallatin School of Individual Studies, where she studies Urban Art and Fashion Design. Sydney has always been passionate about the Black Lives Matter, and especially how she can embody the movement into her art. She has been involved in creating art for her communities and has even spent the past year traveling, creating art and fashion in various locations in Europe and South America.
