FIGHT THE POWER!!!! BY Lauren Lomax
Black Power!!! That’s what you think when you see Jamaica high school senior Gregory Harvey walking past you in the hallways. With a Black shirt, black hat, and black African medallion, it’s hard to miss him. Is it a trend? A fad? No, it’s his own style.
“Since birth, I was born with it. I’ve always been like this. This is me.” He simply chuckled, “comfortable. I just wear whatever I feel like wearing. Whatever’s clean.” When people look at him, they get that sense of opposing the wrong and standing up for what they believe in. they get that sense of black power.
Black power is a political and social term used in the 1970’s by people who believed in Black Nationalism. However, Harvey does not describe his style as being “black power’. He said ‘No I wouldn’t, black power is a state of mind. And it’s an idea that I live my life by.”
Harvey stands out in his all black attire amongst the brightest attires of Jamaica High School. No red pants or bright shirts for him. However his most prized possession that he wears around his neck everyday is a medallion of the continent Africa.
“Africa is the motherland. It represents the struggle,” said Harvey. “My ancestors went through what I’m going to through today. And I’m just tryna spread the knowledge.”
Aside from the struggle, rap group Wu-Tang Clan also inspires him to dress the way he does. “Because well Pretty Tony told me to. They each have their own unique style and I look up to that. Because they don’t follow trends, they make them.”
He feels like the whole retro movement is “played out and should have stayed in its time. That’s why its in the past.” He doesn’t care what other people think of him, “they think I’m weird or hate on me for reasons unknown.”
Black power is a movement among black people throughout the world. But Gregory Harvey is a movement all by himself. Harvey doesn’t consider himself a fashion leader, but a fashion individual and he advises everyone to be the same.
