We've all been victims of profiling. Some of us might not necessarily have been severe victims of racial profiling, but we've been profiled nonetheless. If you think you haven't been, you are blissfully oblivious and I wish I could live with you in your imaginary cloud filled with waffles, trance music and obviously nothing more. We've all walked into a restaurant when our clothes were a little dirty, or our hair was messed up, and the table across from us points and we catch just enough decipherable words to realize that they "know" we are poor, or that we are slutty, or that we aren't going to tip. They know we can't read. They know we are bad parents. They know we don't HAVE parents. They just know. They know we are too skinny. We must be bulimic. They know we're too fat. We must be lazy. We steal pills, we drank too much last night. We've all been called fags, or criminals, or both. We don't work hard. They know we can't fight, but they know we are angry. They know everything. And their preconceived judgements leave us in a defensive, and often times, hostel state of mind because we can feel these judgements being thrown at us. Leonard Cohen said it best when he bitterly stated "Everybody Knows". Cuz, well, they do. But most of the time, everybody is wrong.
Recently, the state of Arizona passed the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act", also known as Arizona Senate Bill 1070, which makes it a state misdemeanor crime for legal immigrants to be caught in Arizona without carrying all proper registration documents required by federal law at all times. While the act on paper may seem to encourage the cracking down of illegal immigration and trafficking, the far-worse byproduct of the bill is that it heavily encourages racial profiling by law enforcement even when "real" crimes are not being committed. There are plenty of other legal problems occurring already throughout the state that should be continued to be handled without adding the additional cost and energy of racial profiling and harassing citizens based solely on the fact that they "look illegal".
If a crime is committed, and during processing, law enforcement discovers that the culprit is not a legal citizen, then it should be handled at that stage. Roaming around and basically finger pointing and harassing people based solely on the loosest possible racial profiling is completely absurd.
So, Stephen Reedy, myself, and the rest of the Zerofriends Collective wanted to help out as much as we could (even if its a small amount) in fighting this war against intolerance and encouraging equality. We decided to discard our medication, throw up our dukes against racial inequality and battle the issue in the only way we know how: Fighting fire with fire, you ask? Nope, fire is too hot and burns us, and we are fragile little creatures of mysticism. We instead, FIGHT ABSURDITY WITH ABSURDITY. Absurdly. And so we made THIS:
Wrangling the entire Zerofriends Creative Collective to collaborate on our cause, we thought that a great way to do so would be to use two of the most powerful methods of communication in the media today…ENTERTAINMENT and FASHION...to support racial equality via the MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund). The MALDEF, known for supporting civil liberties, is currently heavily battling Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070.
Enjoy, and spread this video around, and don't forget to visit Zerofriends.com to support this cause. All profits from the sales of the ALIENS VS. PREDATOR shirt featured in this video will be donated to MALDEF to help continue to battle Arizona's Senate Bill 1070. And STOP PROFILING, YO!
Here are some details about the T-shirt, and where & how to buy it, which also has a fun little art-surprise on the inside that goes along with the commercial:
Click HERE or on any of the pics to go to the online store to purchase the Aliens Vs Predator Shirt designed by yours truly. That means, kinda, me.:)
Oh, here's a direct link to purchase the shirt:
http://zerofriends.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=303
"Aliens Vs. Predator" Black Tee
Sizes XS thru XXL available.
$28.00 (All profits will be donated to MALDEF)
It's also available in SEA-FOAM:)
"ALIENS vs PREDATOR" Sea Foam Tee
Sizes XS thru XL.
$28.00 (all profits will be donated to MALDEF)
direct link to purchase Sea Foam shirt:
http://zerofriends.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22&products_id=302
Detail of the predator face:)
And, lastly, here are some rad behind the scene photos of the crew doing their thing, caught in amazing limelight by photographer MICHELLE RENAE
ANd lastly LASTLY, this isn't the first time I've drawn a Predator, everyone knows that. Here is my world famous first attempt about 20 years ago:)
Thank you to everyone who helped out with this campaign and to all of you for your support.
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