Activism

Two rising juniors at Menlo School, Alli McKenney (right) and Kami Israelski (left), are working together to fight for racial justice.

They learned how to embroider and are coupling their newly-learned craft with a fund-raiser. They created Threads 4 BLM to sell sweatshirts with a Black Lives Matter power fist on the right arm and an embroidered design on the front. All  proceeds go to the Innocence Project, which works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

“The mission of Threads is to support the Black Lives Matter [movement] by donating all money earned to the Innocence Project,” explains Alli and Kami on their website. “Each item is hand embroidered with a symbol that encapsulates the goals of the movement.

“Neither of us has experienced the racial injustices inflicted upon African-Americans, and we realize although this is not an issue that we face directly, it is an issue that impacts so many people around us and unfortunately has proven prevalent since this country’s beginning. We decided on hand-stitched emblems because it signifies coming together as one. ”

They have sold to fellow students, coaches, teachers, friends and relatives. They also embroidered the fist on masks made by the school’s Black Student Union. Their efforts will be ongoing; they will keep embroidering year round.

You can view their clothing products online.

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