Lee DeVito
Sydney Bowden of Gage Cannabis Co., Erin Keith of the Detroit Justice Center, and Ashley Michele of Detroit Vs Everybody.
Homegrown streetwear brand Detroit Vs Everybody has teamed up with Gage Cannabis Co. with a line of merch to raise money for social equity causes.
The line, which launched Friday and is available at Gage's retail stores, includes T-shirts, hoodies, long-sleeve shirts, tote bags, snapback hats, and ashtrays, all emblazoned with the message, "Everybody Vs Injustice."
"It's perfect for your fall and wintertime wear [to show] you're ... in support of the actual fight," Gage's community coordinator Sydney Bowden says, adding, "It's a perfect start-up conversation piece, as well."
Detroit Vs Everybody was founded by Detroiter Tommey Walker in 2012. The "Everybody Vs Injustice" line was launched in 2015 so the brand could partner with various social justice causes. For the Gage Cannabis Co. line, a hangtag has more information about the need for social equity in the cannabis industry.
"We've done 'Everybody Vs' a lot of different initiatives that were supposed to go toward world causes," says Ashley Michele of Detroit Vs Everybody. "So we've done 'Everybody Vs Autism,' we've done 'Everybody Vs COVID' last year. And so our goal with Gage is to just bring highlight or just talk about what's going on in the cannabis industry and the sort of disparities that we're seeing in it."
A portion of proceeds will go toward the Detroit Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm founded in 2018.
Erin Keith, a staff attorney with the Detroit Justice Center, says the nonprofit was started with "a belief that we can't have just cities that work for everyone that are equitable, that are free of racism, until we repair the harm caused by mass incarceration."
Keith says the Detroit Justice Center has a three-pronged approach to fighting back against the war on drugs, which is "defense, offense, and dreams." That includes advocating for formerly incarcerated people, who face many hurdles upon release.
"We're really excited about this partnership," she says, adding that it's important to care about "not just the capitalist aspect of it, but the community aspect as well."
"Detroit Vs Everybody exists to inspire everybody to persist rather than quit, to contribute rather than complain, to unify rather than divide, and to innovate rather than duplicate," Walker said in a statement. "Our entire team is grateful to Gage's ongoing support in our fight against social injustice. Our combined platforms will raise awareness and funds, while inspiring everybody to stand against the unjust legacy of cannabis policies."
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