A man with more skills than he can account for pushed himself to the next level by entering the new Iowa Juneteenth T-Shirt Contest. Jaemal Sullivan didn’t know if he had a chance to come out on top, but it surely felt good when he did.
Sullivan’s winning design, a Black power fist emblazoned with pan-African colors and the phrase “Free to be. Free to be.” below it, will be used as the official shirt for the festivities hosted by the nonprofit Iowa Juneteenth Observance this year.
Juneteenth became a cultural holiday following the union army’s arrival in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. This arrival was accompanied by the order that all enslaved peoples be freed in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation which had ostensibly gone into effect two years prior.
Though it’s been a cultural holiday for well over a century, Texas has acknowledged Juneteenth as a state holiday since 1980. Iowa became the seventh state to acknowledge the holiday when, on April 11, 2002, Gov. Tom Vilsack established June 19 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day, an Iowa state holiday. In 2021, President Biden established Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
The Iowa Juneteenth T-Shirt Contest kicked off this year in search of an artist to create a design that celebrates the history of Juneteenth and Iowa.
Sullivan will be recognized for his win during this years’ Juneteenth Neighbor’s Day Celebration at Western Gateway Park from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 17. Other Juneteenth events are scheduled with Iowa Juneteenth through the weekend.
Little Village spoke with Sullivan, an Iowa native and the talent behind Kreative Products, to discuss his artistic process and hopes for the future.
When did you start making clothes and what was your inspiration?
I believe it was the beginning of 2022 when I figured out that there was a way you can print your own designs, send it to a company, have them print it out for you and you pretty much buy your own clothes. I got tired of buying other people’s clothes and I was like, “How can I do this myself?”
I have a lot of ideas I believe are good, that can be prolific, that other people might like and I’ve gotten compliments on the stuff that I’ve worn. So, if I could replicate that, if I could make something that I would actually like to wear, I could probably make something that someone else would like too!
What was your idea for the Juneteenth T-Shirt Contest?
With the design I was trying to replicate dashikis. I like the designs on them. I combined the colors of the two different flags [The Black Heritage Flag and the Pan-African Flag] because I couldn’t take between which one I actually want to do.
How did you feel when you won?
I didn’t know how much competition there was, honestly. I was just like, I better at least put my name on something. So, when I won, I was just like this is a sign that I need to keep doing this. I got a skill.
What is your creative process?
I just go outside and look for inspiration. Honestly, just get in touch with nature. It depends. Sometimes I just wake up and I’m like, “Am I gonna create something?” I don’t know. I’ll go outside and if I don’t feel inspired on what I see outside, I’ll go online and listen to people talk or I’ll have an inspirational speaker giving me ideas. It’s not a direct idea, but they help me set a course. I guess it’s like mental self care.
What’s next for Jaemal Sullivan?
I’m not sure. I’m already doing so much right now from, it goes from clothes to home decor. I could design something for you to stick on your car or for car padding and stuff like that.
If I could open up my own physical store for people to actually come and buy, see the physical product instead of just going online, I’ll probably work up to that.
