I’m Black and Jamaican and also happen to be gay, but I’m not really someone who celebrates prideful events of any sort.
I’ve have never been to Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade or the Caribbean cultural festival, Caribana. It’s not that I’m not proud of being Black or gay, I just don’t take pleasure in emphasizing it.
But occasionally, I’ll wear socks with rainbows, and lately, I’ve been rocking the new Apple Watch Black Unity Sport Band. This band was sent to me by Apple, and I wore it throughout Black History Month. The band features an arrangement of flowers moulded across it, and includes the colours red, green and yellow.
Apple utilized a layering process for the flowers, creating little variations in each band’s design, which means no two Black Unity Sport Bands are the same. I liked wearing the band throughout the month, and when people would ask me about it, I enjoyed sharing its ties to Black History Month.
The band’s pin features a diamond-like carbon finish with the words “Truth, Power, Solidarity” alongside one of the four flower emblems.
However, for me, the colours remind me a lot of the Jamaican flag. The black in the flag stands for the people of Jamaica, the yellow for the country’s richness, and the green for its beautiful landscape. And although red isn’t in the Jamaican flag, because of the Rastafari in the country, the colour is representative of the Lion of Judah and the bloodshed and sacrifices of our people throughout slavery and colonialism, the blood of our people.
While it’s no longer Black History Month, I’ll continue wearing the watch band, and despite not being loud and proud, I still appreciate it as subtle way to show my love for being Black and Jamaican.
The Black Unity Sport Band is available now and costs $59.
