Brujas, the feminist skateboarding collective based in the Bronx, wants you to imagine a world without prison walls.
According to i-D, the group is releasing their own line of street wear in solidarity with the nationwide prison strike. The collection, titled “1971”, is a reference to the historic prison uprising that took place in Attica Correctional Facility 45 years ago. Nocturnal Sons Posse’s CZARQUAN and Robin Giordani of Corner Society also feature pieces within the limited edition line, in which all funds will primarily go toward Black, Latinx and queer folks deeply impacted by the inequality of the American prison system.
“We imagine a world without prisons and know that our role as political actors working in the legacy of the underground railroad requires action from us. We will not sit idly by as we watch our brothers and sisters kidnapped by the state and put to work under slave-like conditions,” the Brujas wrote on their Instagram. “All proceeds from the launch of this line will create a new legal fund to support people facing charges, time or persecution by the U.S government.”
In addition to creating a clothing line in solidarity with prisoners, Brujas have utilized skateboarding as a way to discuss wider issues of capitalism, gender, and creating space for marginalized people in street culture. They’ve hosted garage parties in conjunction with NYC’s Black and Asian art collective BUFU (By Us For Us), as well as hosted a vigil for fallen skateboarder, Mylene Cruz, whose disappearance raised questions of safety for Latinx women in street culture.
“It’s definitely not a coincidence this is dropping before the election, it’s our way of saying: F*ck what these candidates are feeding us, and the spectacle of it, we’re not interested in being governed whatsoever,” Lizzy of the crew told Hypebae. “Brujas x 1971 P.E. comes out of that sentiment.”