Arts and Culture
African American Historic Ties to Blue Jeans Revealed in Indigo-Dyeing Workshop at Black-Eyed Pea Festival
Oakland-based artist Reshawn Goods, also known as Bushmama, will host a hands-on workshop that connects present-day blue jeans to the skills of enslaved Africans at the 9th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets. Indigo is a plant that is cultivated in a number of places around the world, including India and and Africa. Indigo dyes were introduced in America as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Many of the enslaved African people knew how to propagate indigo to create dye from the plant.
By Daisha Williams
Oakland-based artist Reshawn Goods, also known as Bushmama, will host a hands-on workshop that connects present-day blue jeans to the skills of enslaved Africans at the 9th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets.
Indigo is a plant that is cultivated in a number of places around the world, including India and Africa.
Indigo dyes were introduced in America as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Many of the enslaved African people knew how to propagate indigo to create dye from the plant. Indigo was used to dye clothes throughout all of West Africa, often referred to as blue gold. Wearing these clothes was a symbol of wealth. The Yoruba of Benin, the Manding of Mali, and the Hausa of Kano were renowned for indigo processing and dyeing.
According to Goods, the Europeans liked the colors that this dye produced and made slaves continuously produce it. Another crop that they cultivated was cotton, still something used for much of our clothing today.
When talking about the historical significance of indigo for Black Americans Goods said, “Slaves at that time were given a ration of clothes once a year… this cloth was very coarse and harsh to the skin. So, one slave decided to dip their clothes in the indigo vat and this was the early beginnings of what denim became to be. People will say that Levi Strauss created jeans, but we created jeans.”
At Goods’ workshop, attendees will be able to use cotton, indigo, and denim to create patches that resonate with them that will be used to form a family quilt. This fun and free craft has a lot of historical significance.
“When you go to school you learn about slaves, but you don’t learn about where they came from or what they brought with them,” said Bushmama. “That’s not part of the narrative… we brought so much with us, and that part is not shared. I feel that if we knew how powerful we were it would help us to elevate. That would help to dismantle white supremacy.”
Bush has been creating ever since she was young. Her first exhibition was in 1994 and was also where she sold her first piece. Since then, she has continued using art to create awareness within the Black community.
Before the counterculture of the 1960s, dungarees weren’t even sold in department stores but rather Army-Navy and hardware stores. They were really cheap but sturdy and only made in men’s sizes. Eventually, blue jeans began to be used by designers and became fashion statements that can cost hundreds of dollars.
Many Black Americans are unfamiliar with this history, and with conservative pushback against things like Critical Race Theory, many pieces of history like this are left untold.
That’s why having workshops like these is so important, it shines a light on the parts of history that have been hidden in the shadows while empowering the Black community by connecting them to their roots.
