Floral print shirtwaist dresses, black turtlenecks, and Levi’s are staples in many thrift stores and resale shops.on West Philadelphia’s Lancaster Avenue, such classic American apparel are displayed next to rare Roberta Flack and Bob Dylan albums; and a 1962 photograph of a young Bernie Sanders protesting segregated housing on the University of Chicago’s campus.
systemic racism and sanctioned violence against Black people in American classrooms, Blk Ivy is sharing Black history through fashion. “The long game of continued resistance requires the strategy and energy of the Civil Rights movement,” McGlonn said. “We can channel this feeling through style.” The intent, McGlonn said, is for Blk Ivy to be “a space that centers on diverse stories and figures of the Civil Rights Movement. And for us to pay our respects to Black people who struggled for equality, and those who joined as accomplices in the struggle.”