Culture – 6 hours ago

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Kanye West cannot sell his “White Lives Matter” t-shirts because Arizona radio co-hosts Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward were gifted the trademark.

Kanye West might want to give up on his “White Lives Matter” campaign. On Monday (October 31), Capital B reported that Arizona radio hosts Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward were gifted the slogan’s trademark from a longtime anonymous listener of their show, Civic Cipher. The trademark was transferred to Ja and Ward in September, becoming possessors of the “White Lives Matter” phrase on October 28.

The two now hold the rights to sue anyone who uses it for profit. The former anonymous owner believed that the radio hosts – who focus on social justice – would be able to “leverage the phrase for Black causes.”

“We know that phrases like ‘White Lives Matter,’ ‘All Lives Matter,’ and ‘Blue Lives Matter’ continue to cause harm and to dilute the narrative that was intended to be established by Black Lives Matter,” Ja told Capital B. “Those phrases are all piggybacking off of Black people’s creativity and efforts, so we’re all for helping to use this as a measure to allow Black people to retain a little bit of ownership.”

Although the duo can write cease and desist letters to people selling the shirts, the effort would be costly, causing them to consider donating the trademark to Black Lives Matter or another racial injustice organization who can afford to sue.

It was last reported that Kanye’s “White Lives Matter” t-shirts were being donated to homeless people on Skid Row in Los Angeles by disgraced style influencer Ian Connor.