Navajo designer trumps Trump with new slogan
Vanessa Bowen's hats are flying off the shelves.
Vanessa Bowen’s hats are flying off the shelves.
ALBUQUERQUE
When Navajo designer Vanessa Bowen hears Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump say “Make America Great Again” on the campaign trail, she wonders what exactly that means.
“Thinking about my own experiences as being Navajo growing up with the culture, and understanding it, I felt like making America Native again is essentially the opposite of what Trump was saying,” she said.
The 31-year-old designed a hat that says “Make America Native Again” to parody the phrase emblazoned on a red baseball cap Trump can be seen wearing on television at his rallies.
While the television personality can be seen wearing his hat all over traditional and social media, Bowen’s design is trending on social media such as Twitter.
Bowen got the usual flaming and trolling based on Native American stereotypes, but that didn’t make up the entirety of what she came across online.
“To be honest most of the responses I have been getting were very positive,” she said.
Her website, bowencreative.com, recommends that customers post to social media under the hashtag #makeamericanativeagain, once they receive their hat, tanktop, or even the baby onesie.
The hashtag trended on Twitter over the Fourth of July weekend, although in a comparison using hashtags.org #makeamericagreatagain had peaked at 1,272 while #makeamericanativeagain had not appeared in the last 24-hour period tracked on July 5.
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