However, since I first said I would do this, I realized that the first t-shirt I ever printed, which was in 1976, was for cause Sable Bio. It was a biology building, a beautiful stone building, and the Olin Corporation wanted to tear it down on the campus of Colgate University and we made t-shirts and guess what? The building is still there. That’s right. Marshall Atkinson So I think a lot of people, you know, like to wear shirts for their favorite band or, you know, maybe they have to wear them because they work at a restaurant or whatever, but t-shirts have been at the forefront of causing social change. I think arguably, for as long as I can remember, t-shirts are being linked to a cause. Don’t you think that’s true? Rick Roth Yeah. I think that it’s still a huge part of, you know, wearing your heart on your sleeve or maybe on your chest, but it’s, it definitely makes a statement. Sometimes, that’s the only statement you can make. I’ve done shirts for, groups that are, you know, like the Tibetans working for their cause they can’t speak up in a meeting, but they can wear their shirts. It’s really, one of the more basic forms of expression. Freedom of expression is not always good in my estimation, but in a lot of ways good and affordable, you know? It’s you making yourself a walking billboard, if you will, right? Marshall Atkinson I really kind of want to get this episode starting just with the whole conversation about that link between the t-shirts and activism. And at any rally group or meeting, you’re bound to see that t-shirt with that graphic that’s designed to help promote change. If you just kind of go into detail, what is your take on this? And more particularly, how did you get started doing them beyond just that building for that campus. Rick Roth So when I started Mirror Image, one of the first shirts we did was for a union and we ended up unionizing the company as well. And so that was for causes. In fact, they would want to show up at certain places and be recognizable. And so the t-shirt in some ways was also a uniform, if you will. So you know, all those guys in the red shirts and those are all here to protest, whatever it was that was going on. And I think the other thing is that it’s just part of who I am. I’ve been an Amnesty International member. That’s a human rights organization made up of volunteers for a very long time. I’ve worked now for a long time as a volunteer for an organization called One Caucuses, which tries to bring peace in the Georgia area, Azerbaijan area.
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