Black Owned: Above The Brim x Neon Dion (Recap)

Above the Brim and Tacoman artist Neon Dion curated and hosted a one day art exhibition Saturday, February 26th at eTcTacoma from 7:30PM-9:30PM.

The art exhibit was a chance to showcase Dion’s controversial art piece “African American?” ATB designer and brand owner Daz has loved the art piece since it’s debut in Club907 and the Northwest African American Museum where the piece was once on display to the public years ago. The fitted cap and tote bag created with ATB are their Black History Month featured items this year and an homage to the “AA?” snapBack that sold out two or three times when Dion initially released it.

The event itself was a revolving door of Dion’s cult following that’s included family friends and fellow artists. ATB owners Daz and Kyle held down the space most the evening selling the collaborative pieces and explaining what they could about Dion’s art. 

Items were sold in-store only during the art show but all ATB x Dion African American? items are available on the Above the Brim website February 28th to the general public. 

" African American?"

Neon Dion

"African American?" is a piece that is inspired by race in America. What

does that mean to you? I was approached with the idea one day while

eating lunch at work. There was a moment of question when casually a

CO-worker discussed a recent visit to Europe where she traveled to her

ancestor's original homeland. That sparked a roundtable discussion

which morphed into a testimony about heritage. As a Black American I

don't have the same access to the origins of my descent as other

Americans. These groups can trace back to a certain family member

while most Black Americans have an abrupt stop at a certain point

(slave ships). Black people in America are an amalgamation of race and

ethnicities such as African, European and Native amongst other

cultures. I was told by the group I was eating with that I am "African

American", so they demanded to know if my lineage was from Nigeria,

Somalia, Kenya etc. At that moment I realized I was just as curious to

this question about my ancestors as they were. My response was, "I'm

just Black", which was met with laughter and the rebuttal of, "we know

you're Black, but you're African American".

....But am I?