Gary Langfield 
The Quarter Zip Movement is in full effect. What began as a fashion trend turned internet meme is starting to have real effects on the mentality and overall public image of young Black men.
Jason Gyamfi, a content creator from New York City, whose IG handle is whois.jason, is responsible for starting not only a new fashion trend, but an elevated mindset that goes along with it. Quarter zips are now symbols of professionalism and maturity in the eyes of many young Black men.
Gyamfi created a viral video, telling people, “We don’t do Nike Tech. We don’t do coffee. It’s straight quarter zips and matchas around here.” He made that video comedic by coming off smug, but it was coming from a real place of self-development and it caught fire across the nation.
This powerful video has caused an entire generation to start buying quarter zips. There have been meet-ups and a long series of memes about the quarter zip life, basically mocking the lives of white people in America.
Gyfami, told New York Times, “I really got tired of wearing the Nike Tech…After a certain point, when that frontal lobe starts developing, you’re like, ‘Why am I still wearing it?’”
After the video was made, Nike Techs became the symbol of YNs, a self-deprecating term used to describe young Black men who glorify the street life. The trend became about getting a quarter zip to transition from a “YN” to a professional young man.
Tyrell Langfield, an acting major at Columbia College Chicago, was asked if quarter zips could change Black young men’s mentality. He said, “No… Nobody’s taking it seriously.”
However, when asked if quarter zips would improve how we were looked at, Langfield said, “Yeah… Going from Nike Techs to quarter zips is cool because it shows us in a respectable manner.”
Keionte Drake, a senior at Hyde Park Academy, can be found rocking a quarter zip, but he said, “It doesn’t change who I am.” Drake added, “I definitely think it’s mainly to just follow the trend and for fashion. It makes people stand out and it looks really good on whoever.”
Gen Z is notorious for making jokes about any and everything, so it makes sense that such an important movement started off as a joke, imitating pieces of “white culture”. What has been an exaggeration on social media can make it seem like change is not being made because we’re being performative about it.
The change, however, is serious because, for the first time in my life, young Black men are taking control of the way they’re perceived, while developing a positive sense of identity that comes with maturity. There’s a serious transition happening that’s making respect and professionalism the new cool things, which makes it a movement and not just a trend.
The movement is fighting two things that are attacking young Black men in the country: the criminalization they face across ALL media, not just social, and the overarching mindset that keeps them trapped from progressing. It’s easy to downplay the movement because at the end of the day it’s just an article of clothing, but this wave is the first step we’ve taken to combat the negative stereotypes that haunt young Black men.
It might leave a sour taste, seeing the culture progress because of a joke imitating white lifestyles, but that raises an important question. What exactly is a “white lifestyle”? In the videos I see of Black men making jokes about shifting their mentalities, I see an AMERICAN lifestyle. White people don’t get to keep the professional and mature aesthetic for themselves. The quarter zip movement reminds us to do better and be greater.
I’m most definitely partaking in the movement and plan to have a variety of quarter zips, turtle necks, and button ups because at the end of the day, whether you choose to believe it or not, clothes have power.
Of course this is just a start. Not every young Black males’ mentality will be changed, and we will still be hyper criminalized, but it really is a positive start.
Mayor Brandon Johnson noticed the power of the movement after attending his first quarter zip meet-up, put together by Social Storm Network, a group of young Black entrepreneurs. Johnson said it was “a powerful testament to our city and our young people.” He officially encouraged Chicagoans to pick up a quarter zip this season, saying, “Let’s make that the necessary powerful trend moving forward.”
Let’s build on this movement and find new ways to empower young Black men while we continue to show ourselves in a respectable manner.
by Gary Langfield Jr.
@ima_menace21
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