Partnering with Umbro for the first time ever, Black Arrow FC, the brand at the nexus of soccer and black culture, has turned the spotlight onto Ethiopia, using the medium of photography to place the latest kits as centre pieces for two projects that have the African nation at their heart.
Black Arrow FC continue to specialise in projects that harness the influence of black culture to elevate the perception of soccer mainly in America, although they have expanded into Europe with several projects in recent years. Now though, the focus is on Africa, as they partner with Umbro for a pair of projects that spotlight the official Ethiopian National Team kit. The first story highlights “Take Care of Home”, an Ethiopian diaspora-founded nonprofit that builds classrooms in rural Ethiopia, captured in a video and photoshoot.
Dressed out in the national team’s vibrant strips that caught the eye at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, the video tells the story of Take Care of Home’s founder, Demisew Getaneh, who founded the organisation after taking a trip back to his childhood elementary school in Ethiopia, and realising the school had zero upgrades or improvements since he graduated back in 1991. Fast-forward to today, and they have built seven different schools, 36 classrooms, installed access to clean water for 35 individual families, provided school supplies for 500 students, and annually provided daily lunches for 24 underprivileged kindergarteners.
Through this initiative, support can now be given directly to Take Care of Home’s cause. By purchasing any of the Ethiopia kits through the Take Care of Home website, 100 percent of the proceeds will go to building a classroom in Ethiopia. Get a superb shirt and some karma points while you’re at it, doesn’t get much better.
Expanding on the diversity of Ethiopian culture and once again highlighting the beauty of the Ethiopia shirts, the next drop in the Black Arrow x Umbro link up taps in with Atlanta-based, Toronto-raised, sound selector DJ OHSO, who was shot by Black Arrow’s creative director, Gavin Guidry.
Growing up in an Ethiopian family, OHSO was supposed to be a doctor or a scientist, but her restless creativity led her to pursue a career as a DJ and curator, forging her own lane through the male-dominated music industry and nightlife scene.
However OHSO didn’t just create a lane for herself; she is driving forward the culture with her own offering to the Atlanta scene, Bounce Dat, a party specifically for women, femmes, and queer people, to turn up in a safe and judgement-free space.
Head to take-care-of-home.myshopify.com now to pick up one of the Ethiopia shirts and do your bit to support an extremely worthy cause.
