Black radio hosts secure ‘White Lives Matter’ trademark after Kanye West T-shirts

‘The purpose was to make sure that other people didn’t get rich off of that pain,’ one of the hosts said in an interview

Two Black radio hosts in America have secured the trademark to “White Lives Matter” in an attempt to stop Kanye West selling t-shirts with the slogan on.

In October, Kanye wore a t-shirt bearing the controversial phrase during a Paris Fashion Week show, alongside conservative TV presenter Candace Owens.

The rapper has since engaged in multiple controversies online, including making a string of anti-semitic comments.

You can find the full timeline of events here.

After debuting the t-shirts, Kanye announced that he planned on selling them to the public. Shortly after his comments, some members of his team were spotted handing out the tees to homeless people on the street.

Now, two radio show hosts, Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, have reportedly been given the official trademark to the slogan in an attempt to stop West selling clothing with it on.

The presenters co-host a show in Arizona which is “dedicated to empowering Black and Brown voices” called Civic Cipher. On Monday (31 October), they claimed that an anonymous listener gave them the official trademark.

The listener reportedly acquired the trademark in September and handed over the rights to the phrase on 28 October.

“This person who first procured it didn’t really love owning it, because the purpose was not necessarily to get rich off of it. The purpose was to make sure that other people didn’t get rich off of that pain,” Ja said while speaking on the gesture in an interview with Capital B.

However, Ja explained that the pair are planning to sell the trademark and donate the money to “Black Lives Matter organisations”.

“Realistically, we cannot stop the shirts from being made right now,” he explained.

“We can write cease and desists to people selling these shirts right now, but that is a big monster that requires teams of lawyers and thousands of dollars that we do not have.”

Ja also waded in on Kanye’s decision to wear the t-shirt in the first place: “It’s hurtful, but it’s not something that was unexpected because I know that Kanye has been moving in this direction for some time.”

According to the presenters, there has been no response from Kanye or his team regarding the trademark.