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Black People Were the Original “Craftivists”

It’s time to reclaim our heritage as makers of things

Ruth Terry
ZORA
8 min readSep 25, 2019

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Credit: Mike Hone/Getty Images

Trigger warning: this article discusses the 2014 Ferguson protests.

AA few years ago, I took a part-time job at a local yarn store — or “LYS” as they’re known among fiber enthusiasts. I was a competent knitter; a (White) neighbor had taught me years before. But to do my job well, I needed to become a connoisseur of yarns. I knit more complicated projects and studied the personality traits of different fibers. Mohair, transparent but unforgiving; merino wool, plays well with others; cotton, strong and unyielding. Before long, I could wax eloquent about the tonality of kettle-dyed South American yarns and pick Noro, with its distinctive colorways and Japanese aesthetic, out of a lineup. I had been deeply depressed that year, and this tactile and visual stimulation gave me life.

I loved my customers. The photographer’s assistant who knit accessories for high-end baby photo shoots. The fly tyer with yarn specs down to the dye lot for a specific shade of burnt orange wool that attracted fish. The devoted (and wildly ambitious) mom who bought more than two miles of silk thread to make a wedding ring shawl for her daughter.

Their projects may have been diverse, but they most definitely were not. I only remember…

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ZORA
ZORA

Published in ZORA

A publication from Medium that centers the stories, poetry, essays and thoughts of women of color.

Ruth Terry
Ruth Terry

Written by Ruth Terry

American freelancer in Istanbul writing about culture, mental health, race & travel. Bylines everywhere from Al Jazeera to Zora. Tw: @Ruth_Terry | IG: @ruth.ist

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