By Vincent L. Hall
Sometimes in life, all of us get this incurable, infuriating itch. But not a literal itch. My mama would tell you to get some Campho Phenique or Calamine Lotion for those.
I’m talking about a needling emotional discomfort you can’t readily explain.
Last week at church, Alexus, a fellow Praise Team member, talked about growing up as a PK (Preacher’s Kid). She recounted what the First Lady (her mom) said, and it explained the sudden itch I get when I see some of my brothers and sisters in public these days. The cause of all my itchin’ was finally realized.
Alexus, a young bride of immense wisdom who enjoys dressing up and dressing down, shared one of those not-so-rare, on-the-way-to-church stories about her mom’s insistence on the concept of “decent and in order.”
“Chile, I put on some jeans and a little shirt and jumped in the car with my mama.
She asked where we’re going with you looking like that. You better make up your face and dress like you got some sense.”
That is probably not literal, but it encapsulates my thesis statement, so let’s go with it!
Lex’s mom is like 93.4% of all Black moms in the day. There was a standard of character and appearance that could not be violated. My grandmother, and maybe yours, used a term that is seldom mentioned in modern vernacular. Grandmother Hall called it “slouchy,” defined as lacking in posture and form.
And without being judgmental, fat shaming, or sounding like a snob, I want to reintroduce and reconstitute slouchy and uncover some of the meaning behind it.
I will not mention bonnets in public, midriff shirts with bellies exposed, or sagging jeans that reveal one’s “drawers.” The generation that fought for our dignity understood that Black people dressed up to stare down racism and ignorance.
Here is how I explain when mentoring young brothers. “White people wear wardrobes, and Black people wear costumes.”
Here’s what I mean. A Black professional must always dress professionally to be seen as one.
If Mr. Hall wears a suit, White folks think I’m on my way to preach. If Vincent dons a jersey and some jeans, he is just another of those scary, potentially violent Negroes unworthy of respect and the benefit of the doubt.
Women’s Wear Daily produced an article in 2021 that underscored my argument. It was titled; “Dress and Protest:
Fashion Hasn’t Been a Bystander in the Black Civil Rights Movement.”
“When the Civil Rights era began, however, those in the fight needed their clothing to send a different message. That message was one of respectability, one that intended to elevate the Black community in the eyes of the greater public. And the rallies and marches that took place in this period of respectability politics saw people pulling out their Sunday best.
“Any Civil Rights movement of that time, respectability and dignity was paramount,” Davis said. “Often, they would wear church clothes, women with dresses and proper shoes [men in suits and ties] — and everyone had hard shoes, there were no Nikes.
Everyone was dressed to pro- mote dignity.”
That sense of dressing for dignity was part of the Black experience, both inside and outside of a protest or movement.
“Black folks just like to look good in general,” Michaela Angela Davis said, “There’s this inherent sense of style, because your body was probably the one small piece of real estate, you had some kind of faculty over and some kind of agency. And even then, you didn’t, because your body could be beaten and pummeled.”
What the collective community understood, as well, she said, was how powerful their appearance would be in shaping the narrative around what was happening in America.
If you haven’t realized it, we fought for civil rights and won a few battles, but the war is far from over. The far-Right White press, especially Fox News, still promotes negative images that enforce the ratchet beliefs of their audiences.
Poor Whites inherited and sustained most of their notions of “privilege” from this idea that Blacks are less in intellect, character, and economic power.
Far be it from me to tell anyone what to wear and how to “show up.” However, I would remind you that what you wear and where you wear what you wear makes a difference.
Black folks are always inter- viewing in America, whether you dress for it or not!
Barack Obama was excoriated 10 years ago for wearing a tan suit. Case closed.
In the words of my beautiful, buxom, plus-sized Grandmother Mable, don’t be slouchy! What you wear and how you show up “shapes the narrative!”
Thanks Lex!
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.
