BLM
Teen Starts Business with a Purpose
A
Southern California teen’s business started in the family garage and has become a part of a strong movement in Black Lives Matter. Noah Bustillos, 18, created his own clothing brand, with some inspiration from family and friends, called Nickel Piece. And that inspiration mirrors Bustillos vision of the future and the message in his design. Noah: First, I wanted to add was how the meaning of my brand nickel piece, which is a slang term for the opposite of a dime piece, is that nobody can put a value on yourself besides you. Which also ties into the BLM movement. Your value doesn’t change if your black, white, or brown you are beautiful in your own unique way. When did Nickel Piece began? Was it always something you wanted to do? I’ve always had the idea of starting up my own clothing company but didn’t really start putting ideas together until I was in high school. At the time I couldn’t settle on a name. I had a couple ideas but nothing that stood out. After I graduated, I had a lot more time on my hands and more time to think. While getting inspiration from friends and family I came up with the name Nickel Piece which is a slang term for 44
Orange Appeal | 2020
someone who is rated 5/10. It’s pretty much the opposite of a “dime piece.” Everybody has their own personality, traits and is beautiful in our own unique way. What defines beauty? Today’s society we focus too much on other’s opinions and thoughts, so much so that they often cloud our head causing us to dampen our light of uniqueness. Do you make every shirt at home in the garage? Is it difficult to do or do you find enjoyment out of the process? I make all the shirts by hand in my garage. At times it has been difficult, but that’s just the
trial and error process. Once I have all my screens, inks and t-shirts all aligned up time flies and often find myself still printing in my garage till 3 or 4 a.m. I have been drawing all my life and being inspired by my dad, who is an artist. Is the artwork all done yourself ? Yes, I get all my inspiration from going outside, by seeing and hearing other people’s perspectives. How did the BLM Donation T-shirt come to be? I saw a need for voicing the injustice and I took action after attending multiple events I wanted to help make a change.
Making t-shirts to raise money for the BLM charity was the best solution for me. How much research and sourcing to find each person’s name who have died to racial injustice black individuals in the United States? These are a long list of names of deaths at the hands of the police since Eric Gardner’s death, July 2014, according to a national credible news source. Do you believe more people are breaking their silence and standing up to racial injustice? Yes, I do, and it’s amazing seeing our generation making a change for the better and not being afraid to speak up for others. Did you happen to attend any BLM protest? I’ve attended a couple protest in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. They were all peaceful sit-down protest or marches. The people that start riots don’t really care about the cause, there just taking advantage of the situation. Do you think the BLM movement will continue to rise? I believe that the BLM movement will continue to rise because of how dedicated the youth are. This period in history is not a moment, it’s a movement. FRANK ROCHA
The names of black individuals who have died from police brutality by Noah Bustillos.