Though rapper and actor Vince Staples is known for his controversial yet hilarious stakes, there’s usually some truth to them. In a recent interview with internet personality Ziwe, he was probed about where exactly he was during the Jan 6. 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, and his answer — although shocking — spoke to the core of African American style and swag…even in the midst of revolution.
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Staples said he and his team were on tour watching the madness in Washington, D.C. play out. “We were watching on the bus. It was amazing,” the rapper said, catching Ziwe off guard. While Jan. 6 is regarded as a dark and scary time for our Democracy, Staples continued saying he wants Black Americans to do their own version of the riots.
“And we would do better because they were just ugly,” he said of the Capitol rioters. “The problem with revolution is that it will be photographed. So sloppy loose T-shirts, nobody got a pump, nobody drunk their cayenne and their lemon. It’s just not beautiful.” On the surface, Staples’ jokes about the rioters seemed to have no merit, but if you know anything about Black Americans’ ability to organize a movement, then you’d know Staples was on to something.
Just take the Civil Rights Movement of the ’50s and ’60s. While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders preached about non-violence, another key part of the success of the movement came down to wardrobe. Fashion has the power to communicate intentional messages, so that means whenever you saw a Black person protesting for their rights, nine times out of ten, they were dressed in their “Sunday Best.” Add on the Black church’s deep ties to the Civil Rights Movement, and you’ll understand the counter effort against racism.
The term “Sunday Best” dates all the way back to slavery, when enslaved Africans only wore their most polished clothes to church. Any other day, slaves were dressed in rags while sweating from the heat of the blazing sun. But for church? Only the finest fabrics would do.
“Church has been a saving grace for Black people at times when they had little else to look forward to,” Karen Binns, the creative director and stylist from New York, told Service 95. The same sentiment carried to the Civil Rights Movement, when Black Americans finally had agency in their lives.
In addition to combatting racist stereotypes against their communities, Black leaders and participants wearing suits, ties, polished shoes and crispy haircuts helped to curve the negative misrepresentation of Black people. By the start of the Black Panther party, the Sunday Best ideal was rejected and replaced with a new kind of resistance.
“It’s worth noting that the Black Panthers had a Minister of Culture, so they saw very clearly the importance of aesthetics in changing politics,” Stanford Law Professor Richard Thompson Ford wrote in his 2021 book, “Dress Code: How the Laws of Fashion Made History.” He added, “That developed into the ‘Black is beautiful movement’ which focused quite explicitly on the political dimensions of racial aesthetics and changed dominant norms of beauty in order to incorporate and reflect the norms of the black community.”
The Panthers dressed in berets and leather, while rocking their perfect natural afros and dark sunglasses. Visually, this was a clear representation of Black power and resistance. And as history shows us, the messaging worked as Black Panthers soon became enemies of the state.
Fast forward to 2025, and there is no set wardrobe for revolution. But to Staples’ point, proper clothing shapes the way movements are viewed, so maybe it’s time folks start analyzing their closets…
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