Back in 1998, the most coveted and popular fashion brand was FUBU. FUBU, aka “For Us, By Us”, founded in 1992 by Daymond John, J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin and Carlton Brown, went from John (“Shark Tank” guy) mortgaging his home for $100,000, and using that as seed money to lead FUBU to peak revenues of $350 million in annual global sales.
FUBU hasn’t been a popular brand in years, and has only recently come up for air in that “Atlanta” episode; however, it’s still a profitable company. FUBU currently earns roughly $200 million a year – primarily from a global market, but still a shocker right?
If the common person knew those figures their response would probably be of laughter and stating something like, “that many people still buying FUBU.”
Why is that?
Regardless of its popularity, shouldn’t FUBU always be celebrated due to it truly being a major fashion company for us and by us?
FUBU, led me to think about other Black organizations that are frequently questioned for various reasons. The two institutions that quickly came to mind were historically black colleges and universities aka HBCU’s and Black Greek Organizations. (I’ll expound on HBCU’s in another article.)
First, as a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi, I want to wish all the January organizations a happy Founders Day. January is home to five of the nine predominantly Black Greek organizations.
January 5th – Kappa Alpha Psi
January 9th – Phi Beta Sigma
January 13th – Delta Sigma Theta
January 15th – Alpha Kappa Alpha
January 16th – Zeta Phi Beta
Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Iota Phi Theta, and Sigma Gamma Rho were founded throughout other months in the year.
FUBU was created to have a voice and influence in the fashion industry, an industry that historically did not want to include Black people during the planning and creation phase of fashion, only the (consumer) purchasing part was okay for Black people. Black Greek organizations were created under the same segregating circumstances.
With the focus on being a harbinger for young Black students during their undergraduate years, Black Greek organizations were founded due to being barred from entry by the White fraternities and sororities on their respective college campus.
Socially, they were also formed to keep intact the bond established during Black student collegiate years and post-graduation, thus the creation of alumni chapters.
Though institutional racism isn’t as obvious as it once was, social racism has yet to lose its touch. To date, there are still far too many people in very important positions that simply do not want the inclusion of Black people into their organizations.
While the FUBU brand isn’t a fashion choice of my liking, I will always support their clothing line for the purpose it seeks. Just as FUBU isn’t a brand choice for some, there’s legitimate indignation against Black Greek organizations due to the account of some of its members. Those individual members will never do enough to sully the history and purpose of Black Greek organizations, a history and purpose we all can wear proudly even without wearing the letters.