Picture ASAP Rocky's The Kids Turned Out Fine playing in your headphones as you walk down the busy streets of any American city to catch your train...our lack thereof since most American cities don't offer their people public transportation. So maybe you're playing the song in your car, stuck in traffic or whatever. Point is, you're headed somewhere, observing the world around you and you're struck by the bleakness of it all.
Human beings struggling to secure food and shelter among the richest cities in the history of mankind while those who’ve made it laugh, party and prepare for the next mission to Mars from their luxury bunkers. The kids cope with their screens while their parents cope with their jobs and their employers cope with their trips and their travel personnel cope with their pets who can't see them for days at a time because they're traveling, not to mention the kids who can't see their parents because they're working so much, and the more you think about it the more your brain spins and the more it spins the more you want to turn it off and fall back to sleep but even your dreams have become dystopian nightmares and while everyone around you is convinced Black Mirror is simply a fictional TV series,
you've realized: THE KIDS AIN'T DOING TOO GREAT ASAP!!
Work will be fun! The college recruiters said, and now that you've graduated, its time to pay. And don't worry about buying a place for you and yours to stay, those were for the privileged of yesterday's days. Should've been born 50 years ago ya silly goose! And with your guaranteed 10 days of vacation per year, you'll have plenty of time to forget your divine birthright is to enjoy the planet and her beautiful resources. Oh wait, that's boiling too.
Well, it turns out, you're not the only lonely genius you think you are. There are others out there, silently spiraling in their rooms until they remember to self-medicate with meditation or weed or shrooms or the antidepressants their therapist recommended because even the therapists don’t know how to help the kids cope with our Brave New World.
Deep down you feel it too, don't you? That feeling you get when no one’s around, when you're all alone and the thoughts sneak up on you. When the news reports hit, featuring stories on the latest AI developments or the bombings and shootings both in and out of town. When the science can’t even science, cause everyone’s so biased. When reality is filled with curated vanity by projections from our screens. Do you dive deeper and seek the truth? Do you fight it by teaching the youth? How can we pretend like the world’s not going to end? When the trajectory of our living is in front of our eyes, why do we keep believing their lies?
When the spirals run rampant and you're fresh out of road, feel that head-on collision; YOU’RE JUST TOO WOKE TO COPE!
Our solution is simple and useful, we swear. Here’s our silent revolution and it’s one we can wear, cause most human communication is non-verbal, they say. Let this message speak volumes, echoing shared sentiments of today. Our collective conscience is wary, fearful of what’s to come. Inherited illness from our forefathers, symptoms so glaring we can no longer be numb.
With this simple black hat, we’ll share a little code, so the next person we lock eyes with will know they're not alone.
But it’s more than just buying a hat. It’s about taking our words, our reality, and our home back. It’s our silent revolution and resistance to adapt to those who refuse to defuse, to admit or to help fix a situation we’re too numb and woke for. How else are we to cope? We must elope with the idea that we still have our agency and connect with others who want the same changes we want to see. Art creates conversation which creates collaboration between you and me.
While we may be 2WOKE2COPE, we must remember that we can always come together and create; this is what keeps us human.
Each premium quality '2WOKE2COPE' beanie is individualy embroidered in the same color thread by artist Tsahai in Atlanta, Georgia. Available in black, white or blue in 100% Acrylic or 100% Cashmere. Pre-Order Period: 02/02/2024 - 03/02/2024.
This is an Æra Hope x NSQUARED writing collaboration with contributions from AS and TM.
Black robot photo sourced from Nice M Nshuti on Unsplash. Images and texts collaged and created in collaboration with Æra Hope LLC.