Everyone can be a craftivist: Black History Month Craftivism Make-along 2024

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and with the start of Black History Month only a few weeks away, we are taking a moment to reflect. Today, we’re sharing the gosadi platform with a longstanding friend, collaborator, and esteemed community member, Akia Parks, also known as Dr. Charlie Untangled. In anticipation of her upcoming Black History Month Craftivism Make-along, Akia stopped by the gosadi grapevine to share her craft with our community.

Take it away Akia…

“All good art is political! There is none that isn’t. And the ones that try hard not to be political are political by saying ‘We love the status quo.’” - Toni Morrison

My name is Akia Parks and I am the maker, knit & crochet-wear designer, craftivist, and biomedical engineering PhD behind Dr. Charlie Untangled. I started my business during the terrifying, stressful, infuriating, and eye-opening global pandemic of 2020. I watched from my window during zoom meetings as protests happened right outside my Michigan Avenue apartment. The juxtaposition of corporate expectation of “business as usual” with the sobering fact that my people were being murdered and were marching in the street, tugged at my heart and lit a fire in me. Thus Dr. Charlie Untangled was born. 

After finding a little courage, I began designing and releasing patterns that meant something to me and gave me a way to express myself in joy and in protest all at once. The unrest of 2020 was a catalyst for me finding my voice and building my own definition of craftivism. 



What is craftivism? Coined by Betsy Greer, it’s a term that in its simplest form means craft + activism. I like to define it as where your craft meets your voice—using your art to make a statement. To me, craftivism has a broad definition with numerous examples, big and small. 



My first brush with craftivism was in January of 2017 when I joined thousands of makers crafting pink pussy hats to join the demonstrators at the Women’s March protesting after Donald Trump’s inauguration. I felt such a palpable sense of communal empowerment that came from being able to channel my frustration in a way that could really make a difference. 



Then, in July 2018, a month before I defended my dissertation, I visited the Making Change: The Art and Craft of Activism exhibit at the Museum of Design Atlanta. Rooms were filled with clay pots, tapestries, knits, and stitches, all representing challenges of specific groups across human history. People had knitted and crocheted welcome blankets for folks crossing the border. Students at the Social Justice Sewing Academy sewed a community quilt on the theme of “power.” Shannon Downey of Badass Cross Stitch displayed her crowd-sourced community project that shared the stories of women, female-identified, and gender non-binary humans through cross stitch. My eyes were opened to the power of making truly impactful statements that even I carried in my own corner of the fiber arts world.



These were the experiences I channeled, feeling that same empowering fervor, years later in my living room listening to people marching in solidarity as I designed the knit and crochet BLM-Bogolan scarf patterns and thus celebrated Black lives across the diaspora. This was me loudly protesting through my art. 



Fast forward to a few years later when we were all collectively discovering that our mental health was suffering immensely in a “post-pandemic” world, I discovered Brandi Cheyenne Harper’s book, Knitting for Radical Self-Care. I was learning about the power of giving myself grace and taking time to make something for myself. It wasn’t a loud statement, but I had learned that rest is a form of resistance. 

That’s when I realized that everybody—all fiber artists, especially knitters and crocheters—can be craftivists. There is so much about knitting & crochet that are inherently radical acts: slowly fighting against the “fast fashion” industry to create pieces to wear or warm your home that will last for generations; using creative outlets to help you manage your stress and take little moments to care for yourself in the face of the “busyness economy”; or combatting the strange and wildly inaccurate myth that, “Black people don't knit,” by showing your face, hands, and art on social media. 

I want to encourage more craftivism and create more opportunities for speaking through art in the knitting and crochet space. Whether a person is taking a private journey, choosing to take a little time to themselves to learn a new skill and make a project with their own hands, or they’re expressing their anger publicly about the genocides in Palestine & Sudan, anyone from any generation, from any walk of life, can make a statement through their crafts. All forms of resistance matter. And I want to encourage you to join me and lean into this power!

From February 4th through March 16th, 2024, I’ll be hosting the Black History Month Craftivism Make-along. This statement of craft + activism will be celebrating and supporting often underrepresented Black designers, dyers, and other fiber-related businesses. I will be featuring a number of my own patterns that focus on craftivism, including the BLM-Bogolan scarves, but participants will be allowed to make any pattern they like. As a participant you’ll be encouraged to do any or all of the following:

• Make a pattern by a Black designer (bonus points if the pattern has a particular message or was designed with a purpose—to generate funds for a donation, encouraging people to vote, etc).

• Support Black dyers and/or local yarn shop owners by purchasing their yarn & supplies.

• Purchase accessories such as project bags or a set of stitch markers from a Black business.
  
  

The intention will be to celebrate Black people, Black causes, and Black businesses in honor of Black History Month. People of all races are encouraged to participate to learn, fellowship, get inspired for more ways to create art with a purpose throughout the year, and make something cool together! PLUS, there’s an opportunity to win a prize at the end.

I will host a cast-on event at Nina Chicago & on Instagram Live on February 4th. A check-in event will take place on February 17th and a wrap up event on March 16th at Miss Purl Chicago. Please join in person if you are local to Chicago! At the live cast-on event you’ll have an opportunity to buy yarn for your pattern of choice from our featured local Black independent yarn dyer, Naima Bond of Sister Ananse Yarn. Over the following 5 weeks, there will be check-ins via Instagram Live, where we’ll discuss different topics inspired by what participants are making. I will also be joined by a collaborating Black business owner, maker, or influencer each week. Check out drcharlieuntangled.com/bhm-craftivism-mal-2024 for inspiration on patterns, dyers, and other businesses to support. Sign up to get all the updates on the make-along and learn how you can qualify for the final prize!

I hope you’re able to join me and make something that makes a statement for the #BHMCraftivismMAL2024!

-Akia
Instagram: @drcharlieuntangled
Youtube Dr. Charlie Untangled