The owners behind the ‘White Lives Matter’ trademark don’t own it for the reasons you may think they do.
Since the controversy over Ye ‘White Lives Matter’Inside Edition Digital spoke to T-shirts and one of two Black radio host hosts that owns the trademark.
Civic Cipher, an audio radio show hosted and produced by Ramses Jas, Q. Ward and Maggie B. Knowin (their executive producer), currently hold the trademark for the infamous ‘White Lives Matter’ slogan.
The show’s ZielThe goal is to empower Black and Brown voices and host discussions about topics that may seem difficult or relate to society and culture but are still important. This show was born in 2020 to address the urgent need to act and change following the murders of Breonna and George Floyd.
The Southern Poverty Law Center was established in 2016. declared‘White Lives Matter’ a hate group that was formed as a racist response to ‘Black Lives Matter’ with the aim to promote the white race.
Inside Edition Digital interviewed Ramses Ja, host of the radio station, about their decision to trademark the controversial slogan.
“We are not trademark people, but we will do our best to represent the interests of Black and brown people for the rest of our lives,”Ramses shares Inside Edition Digital.
Radio hosts were not the only ones who came up with the controversial slogan. ‘Black Lives Matter’.
One listener approached them to offer to take over the slogan that they were the owners of before the radio program.
“The reason this person asked us is because that person didn’t feel like they were the right person to be responsible for decisions pertaining to the future of that mark,” says Ramses.
The hosts realized that this was not an easy decision and discussed whether they would accept the responsibility to be the trademark owners.
“We came to the realization that this was perhaps right up our alley. We have committed to being responsible for speaking to and being activists in spaces where it’s sometimes uncomfortable,” says Ramses about the decision to take the trademark.
On the topic of Ye and his recent behaviors and actions, including the usage of the slogan on shirts he’s sported in public, Ramses shared his thoughts.
“I remember Kanye West being a person who stood up for Black people,” he says, then recalls Ye’s statement, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”
“Then I saw Kanye West put the Confederate flag on his shirts at a Yeezy store, and then I saw Kanye West some years later wear a MAGA hat, and then I saw Kanye West wear a trademarked phrase on his shirt,”He said.
“I think I know what problematic behavior looks like. And so we are not in the business of hate on this show. So I will do my best not to say anything damaging to that man,”He said. “That is my brother, for better or worse, and I wish him well, but this maneuver is about protecting our Black and brown communities.”
Ye is prohibited from selling T-shirts with the trademarked slogan because of the previous owner and the show’s ownership.
“This maneuver, I don’t believe, was intended to cause harm to [Ye], but rather to prevent him from causing harm to other folks. And that’s perhaps the spirit that I think that we’re moving in,”He said.
“The two highest profile entities associated with this mark are one very famous artist, and this radio show,” says the radio show host.
“So one of those entities recognizes the hurt that this can create, recognizes how triggering this can be, and the other one, from what I understand, thinks it’s something that is like a part of fashion culture, fashion week, that sort of thing,”He spoke to Inside Edition Digital.
When it comes to ever selling the trademark, Ramses makes it clear that the decision to own it wasn’t for monetary purposes, unless there was a way to benefit the Black and brown communities on a grand scale.
“At present, we are not interested in selling, assigning, anything like that. We were asked to be stewards, we were asked to be deciders. We’re asked to sit on this and take all of the smoke,”He said.
“Okay. If we got $1 million or $10,000,000 and gave half to this NAACP we’d be in a position to fight the battles that may be more pressing in Black communities and brown communities. Battles like voter suppression initiatives. They’ll fight battles like police reform, and environmental racism, ways to fight back on things like that, that really have real life and death outcomes for Black and brown people,” Ramses says.
Ramses believes that the radio station is capable of carrying that weight and keeping the slogan in good hands, even though the trademark being used for Black people has a moral value.
“I’ll speak for me, Maggie, and Q, that we feel responsible, feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to live this moment well, and to be excellent stewards, guided by a truth that is based in love, and that addresses hate in a meaningful and impactful way,”Ramses share.