In this op-ed writer Jameelah Nasheed unpacks the current conversations around elitism, fashion, and how the protests outside of the Met Gala show our vastly different realities.
This year’s Met Gala was filled with celebrities and influencers wearing attire intended to be in alignment with this year’s theme, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” Although some attendees left viewers confused, some nailed it. Still, the most on-theme part of the evening was the fact that while the Gala’s powerful attendees — by way of fame, fortune, or job title — enjoyed their evening, something far different what was going on outside: a protest for racial and social justice, which resulted in some protesters being arrested by the police.
According to The Daily Mail, a flyer from the protest referred to the group, called #FireThemAll on Twitter, as an “autonomous group of NYC abolitionists who believe that policing does not protect and serve communities.” The flyer also explained the protesters’ objective, which was to interrogate why the NYPD is being allotted $11 billion in resources, rather than allocating those funds to help Black and brown communities that are in need of support. In a video posted to Twitter, a protester is heard saying, “Black and brown people are on the brink of houselessness. We cannot go back to normal. Where was your rage last year?” The protester, who has been identified as Ella, and was one of the at least nine people who were arrested, continued, “We demand free housing, we demand all political prisoners to be freed, we demand justice for our people.”
Last year the Met gala was cancelled because of COVID-19. At the time, the world was just beginning to understand the gravity of the virus that would end up killing more than 670,000 people in the US alone — with the majority being Black, brown, and Indigenous Americans. For many the return to normalcy this year felt premature.
I’m not going to act like I don’t love fashion — like I don’t enjoy watching in anticipation of my fashion faves. But I also understand that we live in a capitalistic society where things like fundraising work in a very complicated socio-economic scheme of privilege. So, there’s something to be said about this year’s Gala, in context with the various challenges we’re facing as a global society.
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