Patience, perseverance, and mental strength. They are your biggest armor against all odds.
-Sujata Chatterjee
ContextualizationSuper-sized shoulder pads, sprawling lapels, and peg leg pants - zoot suits were the pinnacle of fashion for the minority communities in the U.S.A. These suits weren’t taken lightly - a young adult would wear their zoot suit the one day a week that they felt free and go dancing with their friends. On a broader scale, zoot suits were seen as obnoxious, gang-related clothing, but for the American minorities, it was their obnoxious clothing and within their rights to wear it. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States joined World War II. With this, rationing began and regulated the production of civilian clothing containing silk, wool, and other essential fabrics. In 1942, zoot suits were made illegal, but zoot suiters saw a truth behind this law - a ploy to diminish the spirit and control the minority communities. When the population of white sailors and servicemen around the area grew, the risk and the reaction to get attention was higher than ever. Eventually, zoot suiters were being brutally assaulted and left half-naked on the street, then arrested as if they weren’t the victims. To this day, zoot suits are still seen as unpatriotic and illegal in the state of California. This project is building to serve a greater purpose, to create awareness and contribution to the history of the people and of the product of the minority communities that fought their way to the light. For each portion of the project, we wielded our passion into each individual subject with an intense fury.
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PerspectiveThrough the eyes of the spiteful perpetrator, there was no wrong. It was what America needed to be its truest self again. Neighborhoods, communities, and even counties, unleashing their evil desires when the clock strikes 6. All-white communities came together to "take their country back" developing a relationship over one thing they all had in common, their extensive prejudice. During the day, they would control themselves and watch from a far, refraining from expressing what they were taught as life, as minorities within their state and community attempted to live a normal, free life. Their hatred lingered in the shadows, growing restless, as all minorities knew what was coming after dark with the commencement of the white people's evening festivity. This is what we call a sundown town. The origin of sundown towns dates back to the 1890s with the introduction of Jim Crow Laws which gave them the assurance they longed for to know it was the right thing to do. While whites were enjoying this part of their daily life, what they failed to realize as they looked into the innocent eyes of a minority, committing killings, lynchings, and other unspeakable forms of torture, was the impact their actions held. Each time they killed, that was someone, somewhere's mother, father, son, daughter, friend. Someone's loved one, taken from their grasps with the pull of their triggers. With this project, I chose to embrace the perspective of the victims rather than praising the "heroes."
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ReasoningDuring the course of this project, we are striving for an understanding - an understanding as to why your best friend could turn out to be your enemy; why some people disappear into the shadows mysteriously; and why someone would keep their mouth shut even if they were losing some fingers. The 20th century was a notorious time for these species of humans that were not only loyal to their greed, but to their legacy. During the Cold War, people feared their neighbors more than their governments. We wanted to learn how that fear is built and why it can be manipulated into something great. We wanted to see how the big players in the Cold War attempted to cheat the game and read the other player’s cards. People were willing to risk their lives and the lives of their families for money but we’re willing to go to such egregious lengths to ensure a nation would crumble. We planned to create simple products to the eye, but have a deeper and meaningful purpose beneath them, just like a spy. Because of our passion for this topic, we really delved into what it meant to be a spy, but also be a traitor in the midst.
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