Summer Sale!

Shop Online Now and Save 30% OFF of your entire purchase!!!

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NEW WEBSITE LAUNCH: www.cutitoutapparel.com!

Hello Ladies...

We've updated our website!

The look is simple and clean, and filled with lots of information about the Cut It Out! brand and our popular products! Take a look:


Here's what's new to our site:

• We've updated the overall look and feel of our website with a cleaner design, and more content.
  
• Our store has a new look! Products have been restocked and are ready to order! We tend to sell out of our popular items very fast, so make sure you log on and get yours while supplies last!
  
• We custom cut your tee! - For an additional fee of $5, we'll custom cut your tee in to one of our styles listed on our CUTS page
• We want to hear from you! So we've launched our Are you a Cut It Out! girl?! campaign. Get more details here. Your entry could get you a free CIO! tee!
  
• We've added a Gallery page. View photos of the CIO ladies out and about at festivals and events. There are also some pics of our customers and loyal supporters in our Made You Look section! Send in your pics and we'll make sure to add them to our gallery too! (madeyoulook@cutitoutapparel.com)
  
• We've updated our Press page. Check out articles, blog posts and a video of CIO shirts being worn on BET's 106th & Park!

We'll make sure to keep you posted on our upcoming events, product updates, and upcoming sales!

As always, we appreciate the support!

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Cut It Out! Labor Day Sale!

Visit our online store!

Cut It Out! x Lil Raggamuffin Summer Camp

make a difference...

Now in it’s fourth year, the Lil Raggamuffin Summer Camp (LRSC) is dedicated more than ever to making a difference for our youth. LRSC is an international youth development organization that creates programs focused on artistic self expression, experimental learning, youth leadership, holistic health, community organizing and entrepreneurialism. The LRSC is dedicated to “creating stronger communities by developing youth to be agents of social change.”



Our friends over at Born As A Raggamuffin need your help in funding the LRSC so they may continue to “inspire young people to believe in themselves, acquire the strength and resilience needed to assume the responsibilities of adulthood and the awareness to operate their lives from an authentic state of possibilities.”



Through arts workshops, team building exercises, rites of passage ceremonies, peer and adult discussion groups and a host of other activities, the camp helps youth to find their inner voice and reinforces the idea of community ownership and support. The Lil Raggamuffin Summer Camp has assembled a strong team of volunteers to teach workshops and provide positive mentorship for over 100 youth ranging in age from 6 - 16. Among the volunteers is an award winning international recording artist, dance choreographer, acclaimed artist, slam poetry champions and seasoned community activist.



This year’s camp will take place in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica from August 9-14. There is still time to make a difference so please help by making a donation.

For more info visit their webiste: Lil Raggamuffin Summer Camp

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Rocsi wearing a Grace Cut It Out! Tee during J Cole - Interview On BET's 106 & Park

We had a really FUN weekend at DanceAfrica2010. The music, the food, the shopping and the beautiful people were in abundance!

This was our first DanceAfrica experience, as vendors...but it won't be our last! (See you next year!)

Here are some photos of some beautiful ladies that stopped by to show off their CIO goodies:

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Come join the DanceAfrica festivities with

Cut It Out!

We will be at the DanceAfrica 2010 Bazaar this Memorial Day Weekend:

Saturday, 5/29 12noon-10pm

Sunday, 5/30 12noon-8pm

Monday, 5/31 12noon-8pm

Located at Lafayette Ave and Ashland Pl in Brooklyn, NY

Visit us at Lot 1 A 39

Many of our popular styles have been restocked and you can also have the first look at our new designs!

The weather is promised to be beautiful so come out and enjoy!

DanceAfrica, now in it's 33rd year, has a longstanding tradition of festivities surrounding dance, art, music, film and the culture of the African spirit.

See you there!

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Today is National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Did you know that today, May 5th is National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy? The purpose of this day is to have teens focus on the importance of avoiding teen pregnancy and other consequences of unprotected sex, (i.e., STDs, HIV, etc.):

About the National Day
"The ninth annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy will take place on May 5, 2010. The purpose of the National Day is to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding teen pregnancy and other serious consequences of sex. On the National Day, teens nationwide are asked to go http://www.stayteen.org/ and take a short, scenario-based quiz (available in English and Spanish). The online quiz challenges young people to think carefully about what they would do in a number of risky sexual situations.
In addition to the online quiz, The National Campaign is also offering an online game with challenging puzzles testing teens’ knowledge about issues related to teen pregnancy. Teens can add the game their social networking profiles and those who complete the puzzles will be eligible to win prizes. Also, The National Campaign is launching a PSA design contest encouraging teens to submit their artwork and ideas about teen pregnancy prevention. Winning submissions will be distributed nationwide.

Organized by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the National Day has widespread support from more than 200 national organizations and media outlets who serve as official National Day partners.

Why a National Day?
The extraordinary declines in teen pregnancy and childbearing over the past two decades have proven to cynics that progress can be made on tough issues. In fact, few social problems have improved quite as dramatically over the past decade as teen pregnancy. The most recent news on this front, however, has not been positive. After consistent and steady declines beginning in the early 1990s, the nation's teen pregnancy rate rose 3% in 2006, according recent data from the Guttmacher Institute.Clearly a renewed focus on preventing teen pregnancy is needed. We hope that—in some modest way—the National Day will help teens think carefully about sex and contraception, the possibility of pregnancy, and the lifelong challenges of being a parent

How Do Teens Participate?
Teens can support the National Day by simply logging onto StayTeen.org on May 5th (and throughout May) and taking the National Day Quiz. The online Quiz will be posted in both English and Spanish on May 1, 2010 and will be available throughout May. Print versions of the Quiz will also be available so that teens without internet access can still participate. The National Day Quiz is appropriate for teens ages 13 and up.

Making a Difference
Each year, we ask teens to tell us what they thought about the National Day Quiz in a post-quiz evaluation survey and many do. Among the findings from last year’s survey:
74% said the Quiz made them think about what they might do in such situations;
61% said the Quiz made the risks of sex and teen pregnancy seem more real to them;
56% said they’d learned something new from the Quiz about the consequences of sex;
62% said they’d talk to their friends about the situations described in the Quiz;
53% said the Quiz made them think about things they hadn’t thought about before;
54% said they’d encourage others to take the Quiz;
59% said some of the situations in the Quiz were things that they or their friends had faced; and
45% said they’d talk to their parents or other adults about the situations described in the Quiz.
Additionally, one-helf (50%) of the respondants reported taking the quiz as part of a school activity and 35% said they took the quiz at home. Nearly one-third of teens (31%) learned about the quiz from a parent, teacher, or another trusted adult and more than one-quarter (27%) of teens learned about the quiz from one of our National Day partners.
Teens were also given the opportunity to comment on the quiz. Here is a sampling of their responses:
“I thought it was a very good eye-opener. Most teens don’t think about how much getting pregnant could screw up their lives. I think this quiz will help people start thinking about sex and teen pregnancy and help them realize that they might not be as smart as they think.” ~ Girl, age 15
“I thought the quiz was put together in a way that made it both informational and entertaining. I know lots of people who could have benefited from this quiz and will recommend it my friends so they don’t get caught up in similar situations.” ~ Guy, age 17
“I thought the quiz was a great way to show what could happen if you don’t protect yourself. Sex is very serious, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. This quiz is a wake up call to many teens.” ~ Girl, age 15
“I thought it was a good quiz. It seems like a good way to teach teens about sex if they are too afraid to ask their parents and are afraid of what they might say or do.” ~Guy, age 15
“This quiz made me think about how this stuff really does happen in real life. Before prom, many of my friends told me that they were thinking about having sex. If I had known about this website, I definitely would have recommended it!” ~ Girl, age 16

Source

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Cut It Out! @ Roots Rockin' Royal II Fashion Show & Fundraiser

We'll be at Roots Rockin' Royal II Fashion & Fundraiser tomorrow (2/26) starting at 6pm! 10% of Cut It Out!'s proceeds will go to JAMPACT's Adopt-A-School Program & Haiti Relief Efforts!

More details below:

Date: Friday, February 26, 2010
Location: Promenade, 215 W 28th Street, NYC
Time: 6:00 - 10:00 PM
Details: JAMPACT's 2nd Annual Fashion Show presenting collections by top designers from the Caribbean and New York. Proceeds in aid of JAMPACT Adopted Basic Schools and its Haiti Relief Efforts.
Tix: $25 Pre-sold, $30 at the door... purchase tickets here:

or go to ticket locations:

Genesis
16223 Hillside Avenue
Jamaica, NY 11432-4023

Moodies Records
3976 White Plains Road
Bronx, NY 10466-3002

Hope to see you there!

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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

Gwendolyn Brooks

(June 7, 1917 - December 3, 2000)

Gwendolyn Brooks was an African American writer and poet. Her work dealt with the everyday life of urban blacks. She was the first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize (1949), and in 1968 she was named the poet laureate of Illinois.

Brooks graduated from Wilson Junior College in Chicago in 1936. Her early verses appeared in the Chicago Defender, a newspaper written primarily for that city's African American community. Her first published collection, A Street in Bronzeville (1945), reveals her talent for making the ordinary life of her neighbours extraordinary. Annie Allen (1949), for which she won the Pulitzer Prize, is a loosely connected series of poems related to an African American girl's growing up in Chicago. The same theme was used for Brooks's novel Maud Martha (1953).

The Bean Eaters (1960) contains some of her best verse. Her Selected Poems (1963) was followed in 1968 by In the Mecca, half of which is a long narrative poem about people in the Mecca, a vast, fortresslike apartment building erected on the South Side of Chicago in 1891, which had long since deteriorated into a slum. The second half of the book contains individual poems, among which the most noteworthy are “Boy Breaking Glass” and “Malcolm X.” Brooks also wrote a book for children, Bronzeville Boys and Girls (1956). The autobiographical Report from Part One(1972) was an assemblage of personal memoirs, interviews, and letters; it was followed, though much later, byReport from Part Two (1996). Her other works include Primer for Blacks (1980), Young Poet's Primer (1980), To Disembark (1981), The Near-Johannesburg Boy, and Other Poems (1986), Blacks (1987), Winnie (1988), andChildren Coming Home (1991).

In 1985–86 Brooks was Library of Congress consultant in poetry (now poet laureate consultant in poetry), and in 1989 she received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts. She became a professor of English at Chicago State University in 1990, a position she held until her death. (Source)

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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

Elizabeth Catlett

(April 15, 1915 - )

Elizabeth Catlett is an African American sculptor and painter who expressed the struggles of her people using her amazing talent. Her art pieces helped to bring a social consciousness to the world of art.

"She was born in Washington D.C. She passed a competitive exam for entry to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1932, but was refused into its school of art due to her race. She therefore entered Howard University and studied for one year under Lois Mailou Jones to become a textile designer. She changed her major to painting when she discovered what concepts and messages could be conveyed in this form of art. The concepts which were conveyed in the Mexican Muralists were the turning point in her dedication to Socialist expressive art. Upon graduation with honors from Howard University in 1937, Elizabeth Catlett went on to the State University of Iowa. At IOWA, she studied under Grant Wood (artist of American Gothic and Daughters of Revolution). Wood encouraged her "to paint what we knew most intimately." Catlett was the first student to receive a M.F.A. degree from the State University of Iowa in 1940. Her master's thesis, MOTHER AND CHILD, won the AMERICAN NEGRO EXHIBITION in Chicago in 1940. (more)

Source, Source

Art pieces by Elizabeth Catlett:

Mother and Child

Sharecropper

New Generation

Two Generations

Three Women of America

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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

Assata Shakur

(January 16, 1947 - )

Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Deborah Byron Chesimard) is a political activist and former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army; who, after being convicted of the murder of NJ State Trooper, Werner Foerster, escaped from a NJ prison and is now living in exile in Cuba.

Here is Assata's story, in her own words:

"My name is Assata ("she who struggles") Shakur ("the thankful one"), and I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government's policy towards people of color. I am an ex political prisoner, and I have been living in exile in Cuba since 1984. I have been a political activist most of my life, and although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been one. In the 1960s, I participated in various struggles: the black liberation movement, the student rights movement, and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. I joined the Black Panther Party. By 1969 the Black Panther Party had become the number one organization targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO program. because the Black Panther Party demanded the total liberation of black people, J. Edgar Hoover called it "greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and vowed to destroy it and its leaders and activists.

Political Prisoner to Exiled
On May 2, 1973 I, along with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike, supposedly for a "faulty tail light."Sundiata Acoli got out of the car to determine why we were stopped. Zayd and I remained in the car. State trooper Harper then came to the car, opened the door and began to question us. Because we were black, and riding in a car with Vermont license plates, he claimed he became "suspicious." He then drew his gun, pointed it at us, and told us to put our hands up in the air, in front of us, where he could see them. I complied and in a split second, there was a sound that came from outside the car, there was a sudden movement, and I was shot once with my arms held up in the air, and then once again from the back. Zayd Malik Shakur was later killed, trooper Werner Forester was killed, and even though trooper Harper admitted that he shot and killed Zayd Malik Shakur, under the New Jersey felony murder law, I was charged with killing both Zayd Malik Shakur, who was my closest friend and comrade, and charged in the death of trooper Forester. Never in my life have I felt such grief. Zayd had vowed to protect me, and to help me to get to a safe place, and it was clear that he had lost his life, trying to protect both me and Sundiata. Although he was also unarmed, and the gun that killed trooper Forester was found under Zayd’s leg, Sundiata Acoli, who was captured later, was also charged with both deaths. Neither Sundiata Acoli nor I ever received a fair trial. We were both convicted in the news media way before our trials. No news media was ever permitted to interview us, although the New Jersey police and the FBI fed stories to the press on a daily basis. In 1977, I was convicted by an all- white jury and sentenced to life plus 33 years in prison. In 1979, fearing that I would be murdered in prison, and knowing that I would never receive any justice, I was liberated from prison, aided by committed comrades who understood the depths of the injustices in my case, and who were also extremely fearful for my life." (more)

Source

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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

Cathy Hughes

(April 22, 1947 - )

Cathy Hughes is a radio and television personality, business executive, and entrepreneur.

"[She] is the founder and chairperson of Radio One, Inc., the largest African American owned and operated broadcast-company in the nation. Radio One is the first African American company in radio history to dominate several major markets simultaneously and possesses the first woman-owned radio station to rank #1 in any major market. In 1995, Radio One purchased WKYS in Washington, D.C. for $40 million — the largest transaction between two Black companies in broadcasting history.

In May of 1999, Cathy Hughes and her son Alfred Liggins (President & CEO) took their company public. Hughes made history again by becoming the first African American woman with a company on the stock exchange. Radio One’s value is currently in excess of $2 billion dollars. In 2000, Black Enterprise named Radio One, “Company of the Year”, Fortune rated it one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For”, and Radio One was inducted into the Maryland Business Hall of Fame.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she moved to Washington, D.C. in 1971 and became a lecturer in the newly established School of Communications at Howard University. She entered radio in 1973 as general sales manager at WHUR, Howard University Radio, increasing station revenue from $250,000 to $3 million in her first year." (more)

Source

Source

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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

Patricia Roberts Harris

(May 31, 1924 - March 23, 1985)

Patricia Harris was the first black woman in the Cabinet when President Jimmy Carter appointed her secretary of housing and urban development (HUD) in 1977.

Harris was born in Mattoon, Illinois. She's a Howard University graduate with a BS in Political Science and Economics (1945). She earned a law degree with honors from George Washington University and was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Below is a chronology of her professional career*:

• 1961 - she became Associate Dean of students at Howard University School of Law and in 1963 she was given full professorship
• 1965 - President Lyndon Johnson appointed Harris Ambassador to Luxembourg. The first black woman ambassador, she served until 1967 when she returned to Howard University as a law professor
• 1969 - she became Dean of Howard University
• 1970 - she joined a Washington D.C., law firm practicing corporate law until she was appointed U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (later named Health and Human Services - DHHS)
• 1981 - After Jimmy Carter was lost his bid for a second presidential term, Harris resigned as secretary of DHHS.

Find out more about Patricia Harris here.

Source

*Source Unknown for some of the information

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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

Angela Davis

(January 26, 1944 - )

Angela Yvonne Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1944. She's an American socialist, political activist, and retired professor of the University of California, Santa Cruz - History of Consciousness Department. She also served as the director of school's Feminist Studies department. Her particular research interests include feminism, African American studies and social consciousness.

Angela attended the Elizabeth Irwin High School in Greenwich Village. While there she researched solutions to poverty and racism and becomes intrigued with the Communist Manifesto and communism. (source) She also became a, "vocal activist during the Civil Rights Movement and [she's] a former Black Panther."

"In the 1970s she was a target of COINTELPRO, tried and acquitted of suspected involvement in the Soledad brothers' August 1970 abduction and murder of Judge Harold Haley in Marin County, CA. She was twice a candidate for Vice President on the Communist Party USA ticket during the Reagan era.

Since moving in the early 1990s from communism to reformism she has identified herself as a democratic socialist. [She] is also the founder of Critical Resistance, an organization working to abolish what it calls the prison-industrial complex."

Here are some other important facts about Angela Davis(source):

• September 16, 1963: A church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama kills four girls who Davis knew from her childhood. This greatly impacts Davis and she feels it is the product of a racist, violent society and not just the act of a few angry individuals.
• April, 1968: King is assassinated, which has a large effect on Davis and the organizations in which she is participating. Although King's philosophy differs from Davis', she is devastated by his death and the negative impact is felt throughout the Black community.
• 1969: Davis travels to Cuba which she feels has been completely misrepresented by American propaganda. This affirms her position that the only way to eradicate racism in the United States is to take a socialist route.
• October, 1995: Angela Davis shows her disgust with the exclusion of women in the Million Man March, as she believes it encourages chauvinism in Black activism and the Black community.
• October, 1996: Davis goes to UCLA to speak out in protest against Proposition 209, which would ban affirmative action in University of California schools.
• January 2006: Angela Davis is currently on sabbatical at UC Santa Cruz and continues to tour the world to protest oppression.

Source, Source
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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

KoKo Taylor

(September 28, 1928 - June 3, 2009)

KoKo Taylor was an American blues singer often referred to as the "Queen of Blues." "She was known primarily for her rough, powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings." Her most popular song was titled, Wang Dang Doodle. Below is an excerpt from KoKo's bio, located on her official web page:

“I come from a poor family,” recalls Koko. “A very poor family. I was raised up on what they call a sharecropper’s farm.” Born Cora Walton (an early love of chocolate earned her the lifelong nickname Koko) in 1928 just outside of Memphis in Bartlett, Tennessee, Koko was an orphan by age 11. Along with her five brothers and sisters, Koko developed a love for music from a mixture of gospel she heard in church and blues she heard on radio stations beaming in from Memphis. Even though her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, Koko and her siblings would sneak out back with their homemade instruments and play the blues. With one brother accompany-ing on a guitar strung wth baling wire and another brother on a fife made out of a corncob, Koko began her career as a blues woman. As a youngster, Koko listened to as many blues artists as she could. Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie were particular influences, as were Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. She would listen to their songs over and over again. Although she loved to sing, she never dreamed of joining their ranks.

"When she was in her early 20s, Koko and her soon-to-be husband, the late Robert “Pops” Taylor, moved to Chicago looking for work. With nothing but, in Koko’s words, “35 cents and a box of Ritz crackers,” the couple settled on the city’s South Side, the cradle of the rough-edged sound of Chicago blues. Taylor found work cleaning houses for wealthy families in the ritzy northern suburbs. At night and on weekends, Koko and Pops would visit the South and West Side blues clubs, where they would hear singers like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Magic Sam, Little Walter, and Junior Wells. And thanks to prodding from Pops, it wasn’t long before Taylor was sitting in with many of the legendary blues artists on a regular basis." (more)

Source

Source

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Cut It Out! Recognizing Influential Black Women During Black History Month

Today is the first day of Black History Month. We like to use our blog during this month to highlight the many black women in our history that have influenced our culture in more ways than one...today we start with:

Zora Neale Hurston

(January 7, 1891 - January 28, 1960)

Zora Neale Hurston was born in Alabama in January of 1891. She attended Howard University, and later Barnard College, where she was the only black female student. She received her BA in Anthropology in 1927.

Zora was a folklorist/writer during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. She published four novels, more than 50 short stories, plays and Essays. Her most notable novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was published in 1937 and later adapted in to a movie by Harpo Productions in 2005. She traveled extensively in the Carribean and became immersed in local cultures and practices to conduct her anthropological research. Her book Tell My Horse, published in 1938, was based on her documented research of the time she spent in Jamaica and Haiti studying both African and Voudon rituals.

Zora eventually went into public obscurity for decades due to a number of cultural, and political reasons. "Many readers objected to the representation of African American dialect in [her] novels, give the racially charged history of dialect fiction in American literature. Her stylistic choices in terms of dialogue were influenced by her academic experiences. Thinking like a folklorist, [she] strove to represent speech patterns of the period which she documented through ethnographic research."

Hurston passed away on January 28, 1960. You can learn more about Zora here.

Source

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Help Haiti Earthquake Relief

As most of you may already know, Haiti suffered a magnitude 7.0 earthquake two days ago that literally left the country in shambles. Our hearts go out to Haiti as they face this devastation. Fortunately, many people and organizations have come together to provide relief to Haiti through volunteering, and donating money, clothing and food. Below is a list of places you may contact to assist with relief efforts:

• Wyclef Jean's YELE organization: Text the word "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to relief efforts. The $5 will be charged to your phone bill. You may text up to 6 times.
  
  
• World Food Programme (the U.N.'s food agency) is accepting donations at www.wfp.org
  
  
• Provide a helping hand with the Rescue Committee at the IRC.org or 1-877-REFUGEE
  
  
• Doctors Without Borders are accepting donations.
  
  
• Red Cross of America - text "90999" to automatically give $10 for relief aid in Haiti.

For families in the U.S. looking for loved ones you can try:

• Calling the State Department hotline: 888-407-4747
  
  
• Submit photos to CNN's iReport site
  

We pray for the survivors of this catastrophe and hope that the global relief efforts will provide strength in rebuilding their country.

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