Photos By Gail

Artist and designer Beau McCall uses buttons to tell stories “about African-American life, love and experience,” noting “buttons are universal. There are those that express class differences, political views, and cultural issues.” His jacket, The Revolution (1995) communicates black American Afrocentricity through the colors of the pan African flag.

Created by Jamaican Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey in 1920, the flag’s red, black, and green stripes symbolize the common blood of black diasporic peoples (and the blood shed in their fight for freedom), Black people, and the natural fecundity and potential of Africa.

Photographed in the Museum at FIT as part of the Exhibit, Africa’s Fashion Diaspora.