The Meaning Behind the I am Creole Shirt
The story behind THAT shirt…yep this one.
When my brain first started coming up with the idea of this site and all of the other things that could go along with it I decided to maybe try to design a few shirts. Hoping there would be enough interest in the shirts to help bring an audience to the blog. I had NO IDEA that it would become “a thing” and I’m so grateful for the support!
One of the first designs I did was the I Am Creole shirt.
About 11pm one night, I was laying across the foot of my bed with my laptop and just started typing. Staring at the screen after I was done I said, “Yep this is awesome”. Honestly I had a little anxiety about it because I had no idea how it would be received. My anxietyometer was obviously off because it blew up!
Within a couple of days though I started seeing it EVERYWHERE! Someone had taken a screenshot of the image on Amazon and posted it on Instagram and it went semi viral, even Dillard University shared it!
While I was excited to see the support I was disappointed that the original poster did not credit me. Super bad juju to creatives, just sayin’. BUT extremely awesome to see the support of something that I wrote. I wanted to break down the meanings behind the words.
I am Creole. I am not a seasoning, a type of food or a myth.
So many times someone asks “What are you?” and I answer Creole (after my usual sass), I am met with “Oh, like the seasoning!” or “I love Creole food!”. Second major eye roll follows. My good friend Scottie Williams, tour guide extroidinaire, had someone ask him “If he had ever seen a Creole” so that’s where the myth comes in. Yes we do exist.
I am a Culture.
We are a culture. Culture is defined as the beliefs, customs, arts of a particular society, group, place or time. Creole culture fits within all of these categories and can be easily defined that way. More to come on this subject.
I am a roux of the intermingling of flavors that were native to this land and new to this land.
I often described all of the pieces of me as a roux, the trinity, the base, water. The multiple cultures, ethnicities, races, whichever term you prefer that were original to this land and that immigrated or were brought to this land. We are a man without a country, we belong to them all and they to us.
I am story. I am language. I am tradition. I am family. I am every shade.
I see Creole people as rich stories, unique in language and traditions. Family connections are important and valued, we have more of a family branch than a actual tree! We are every shade of cream, pink, brown, red and black and so much more than just a box to check on a form.
I am proud of my culture and will not deny it to make you comfortable.
This was the part that made my nerves frazzled quickly followed by a I really don’t care moment. I think in an effort to fit in or conform or just not have to answer a million questions or even just to not get in a heated debate we can sometimes leave Creole off the table. The comfort level of others is not really as important as the pride in culture so I said it. So there.
So there is the story behind the shirt. Honestly I wasn’t thinking that deeply when I wrote it, it’s just what I feel and I felt others would feel the same. And they did. I am deeply proud of who I am and of every part of me, we all should be.
Want this shirt? You can get the I am Creole shirt on Amazon or if you would like it in a v-neck, tank top, coffee mug and a few other things (see below) then check out our store HERE!
