Last night, at NYC’s Panorama Music festival, Frank Ocean performed his headlining set in a T-shirt that became one of the night’s biggest conversation pieces. “WHY BE RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC OR TRANSPHOBIC WHEN U COULD JUST BE QUIET?” the tee asked.
The young woman behind the tee is 18 year-old Kayla Robinson, a Dominican, Afro-Latina entrepreneur whose independent clothing business Green Box Shop launched last year. The shop’s apparel all centers powerful social justice messages, ranging from subjects like feminism to climate change.
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“I started this business in May 2016 out of an old 800 square foot apartment (living with my mom). When I couldn’t find any social justice tee shirts online for myself, that really would grab someones attention, I decided to make my own and sell them to raise money to get my yoga teacher certification (Now the ultimate vision is urban farming). I am an 18 year old Afro-Latina bisexual woman who can’t really summarize herself with a cliche sentence,” Robinson explains on the Green Box Shop site.
After Frank Ocean gave her tee a big platform, the internet is clamoring to cop it – and her other clever shirts.
“It’s very exciting to see a queer icon like Frank Ocean giving a voice to marginalized groups and using his platform to raise awareness about social justice issues using one of our shirts,” Robinson told The Fader about Ocean’s co-sign. “My business is essentially my life message. I want other companies to know that they can use sustainable/ environmentally friendly business practices (fair trade and/or organic fabrics) and still thrive as a business. The fact that Frank Ocean is contributing to this reality is surreal for me and I am eternally grateful.”
Scoop the “Why be racist when u could just be quiet” tee for $18.99 here, and check out the rest of Green Box Shop’s apparel.
