ShabazzA-DoEP Flag for Dope People
This is the American Descendants of Enslaved People flag. The four black stripes represent what we've become while acknowledging we have room to grow. The number of bars represents the four major points where we arrived (New Orleans, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Mexico); asymmetrical alignment of the Black stripes signify the African American quiltmakers and the conditions enslaved people were transported. The four white bars represent the empty spaces left in Africa from the four major regions of African slave export from central west Africa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Angola. The stripes streak to the right across the flag (or left if hanging backward) signify the trans-Atlantic slave trade route. The red represents the ancestors of descendants and their sacrifices, and the blue represents the Atlantic ocean, the ancestors' graveyard that fought and died along the voyage.
When I researched for the first volume of How to Draw Black People, I felt inspired to make a flag. I wanted to create something that was representative of our stories and experiences. So, I got into vexillology and designed the "A-DoEP" flag (pronounced: dōp). But, I didn't know what to do with it, so I archived the flag for the last 3+ years.
Flags are fun to design, but they can also be powerful tools. Unfortunately, making one for Black people of a different experience doesn't guarantee acceptance either.
Since then, I've become motivated to branch out into new art forms, fashion design being one of them. So, I revised the A-DoEP flag with a minimalist style that would work well on clothing.
Over A Dozen Different Styles And Colors Available Now.
A-DoEP is my first try at designing a clothing line, but as always, there's a deeper meaning with everything I do. First, I have pride in my ancestry. My elders lived through so much that distancing myself from a history of enslavement would do them a disservice. This flag doesn't glorify slavery any more than it obstructs the history behind it. In the words of the late great DMX, "If I don't know where coming from, where will I go?"
Second I want to wear the love I have for my people on my sleeve and allow others to show theirs as well. Even if you are not Black, wearing the A-DoEP flag shows you know Black history and support Black people.
To be clear, this flag is for Black people that feel alienated by the American flag but at home exactly where they are. So when you're at your next function and someone asks, "What do those lines on your shirt mean?" Tell them it's a dope flag for dope people, and keep it moving. If you know, you know.
The entire collection is available now, and our Thankful sale begins Monday, 11/22/21