Following the historic Uhuru Solidarity Movement 2021 National Convention earlier this month called “Make Wall Street Pay Reparations”, we have been internalizing the profound presentations from Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Deputy Chair Ona Zene Yeshitela that “the political and economic are one” as we put the theory of African Internationalism into practice.
Uhuru Planet has big plans to take this theory and apply it this year to grow as a thriving economic institution of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, that through our sales we can generate the resources needed for APSC to organize for reparations around the world. We also salute Chairwoman Penny Hess of APSC who gave a profound statement of solidarity at the convention and who has provided so much leadership for Uhuru Planet. To view the USM Convention, browse the video archive at youtube.com/uhurusolidarity.
The conference was organized by the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, the organization of white people who are accountable to and work under the leadership of the African People’s Socialist Party. It was an honor for us to participate doing a “virtual table” to our biggest support base in the Uhuru Movement. In the days since then from our office at the Artisan’s Asylum in Somerville, MA we have been excitedly sending out orders and truly appreciating all the support we got during our live sale event on Sunday 4/18 of the convention. Thank you to everyone who tuned in and dropped your positive comments in the chat.
Each t-shirt sold is one step closer to APSC having its own Solidarity Center in St. Louis, home of the Black Power Blueprint which APSC and USM raise resources for. In 2021, Uhuru Planet has a clear vision and plan to grow exponentially to achieve this goal.
Part of growing any business includes permitting and licensing to protect the intellectual property and concept of the brand. To become economically viable means to have more power and ability to reach more people with the Uhuru Movement’s revolutionary theory of African Internationalism. We also have to protect the interests of the African working class, under whose leadership Uhuru Planet operates. In order to protect this institution, Uhuru Planet is currently in a process to apply for our trademark registration with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).
Over the past few months of 2021, we have been partnering with student lawyers from Northeastern University in Boston, MA to help us achieve this exciting goal and work with us to file our application. We have learned some of the ins-and-outs of how specific the USPTO needs your application to be and we are very grateful for the team at BU who has helped us along this path to a trademark.
We are calling on our supporters to help us sustain this work by making a contribution towards the resources needed to file this application. Each patent filed is $350, and we need to file file two for a total of $700. One is for the “UP” with a star logo design, and the other is for the word mark “Uhuru Planet Reparations Apparel”.
Applying for our trademark is one of our mandates from the brilliant Office of Deputy Chair Ona Zené Yeshitela and Black Star Industries, who in 2020 worked directly with Uhuru Planet to shape us on the path to a highly professional and organized institution as one of the 50+ economic institutions of the Uhuru Movement. From having begun over 10 years ago with small batch DIY screen-printed shirts, to 2019 when we updated our branding and logo with a new website, to 2020 getting our first ever office space, Uhuru Planet has come a long way as a business. But there is still a long way to go!
Under the leadership of Deputy Chair Ona Zené Yeshitela and Black Star Industries, the mandates included establishing a Manual, building our Wholesale capacity, consistent branding and logos, apply for trademarks, establish budget projections and cash flows, identify all staff roles, build our volunteer program, and so much more. We began our trademark process last year and are glad to say it’s almost complete! At this point, we just need the resources to make it happen.
Can you contribute towards our goal of $700 to make our trademark application a reality?
We welcome donations of any amount, including the whole $700 if you are able. Donations can be made on our “Donate” button from our website, uhuruplanet.com
Thank you for your support! Find us tabling this weekend at our first outdoor market of the year, the Somerville Open Studios featuring over 100 artists living and working in Somerville, MA. We will be outside on Saturday, May 1st, from 12-6pm in the alley between Market Basket and Dane Street (28 Dane St, Somerville MA 02143) with a rain date of Sunday May 2nd.
We will also be hosting a facebook live sale event tomorrow, Friday April 30th at 2pm EST for a sneak peak at what we will be showing this weekend, including Artwork For Reparations. Register here to receive text notifications the next time we go live.