“We’re gonna get that PS5 now right?” 13-year-old Isaiah Mackey asked his father, Carlton Mackey. The pair, along with Manu Sackey, son of Mackey’s girlfriend Naeesa Aziz, made their way down an aisle towards a section of clothing inside a popular department store.
Moments later the three of them found what they came for and began embracing in front of the newly released “Black Men Smile” collection, a part of the Black History Month collection currently running at Target stores.
Launched on January 21, “Black Men Smile” section features nine new pieces including the “Black Joy Is Revolutionary” hoodie, children’s apparel, and a “Black Men Smile” logo bucket hat, which is the brand’s first-ever accessory item.
“Black Men Smile” was conceived after the death of Mike Brown in August of 2014. Mackey, 45, yearned to do something positive for the Black community and subsequently launched the clothing brand. A decade later the idea that was born out of pain and tragedy has turned into a national franchise in Target.
Mackey s journey to creating “Black Men Smile” began with a project called “50 Shades of Black,” which explored the role of sexuality and skin tone within the Black community.
This project evolved into a book, and Mackey recognized the need for positive representations of Black identity. Trayvon Martin’s death and subsequent tragic incidents like it sparked a realization that positive imagery was crucial for combating negative stereotypes.
The idea was further formed while Mackey was researching the phrase, “Black Men Smile”. He conducted social media research and saw that the #BlackMenSmile search on Instagram yielded zero results making Mackey the first one to take and utilize the phrase.
Mackey invited people to share positive images of themselves using the hashtag, his aim was to create a space where Black men could see themselves in a healthy light amid societal challenges. The campaign gained momentum, especially when comedian Felonious Monk started the #BlackMenSmiling campaign on social media which connected the two men and further amplified the “Black Men Smile” brand.
Over time the campaign grew into a nationally recognized clothing brand and community conduit, focusing on mental health, positive black masculinity, and self-love. The hashtag garnered over 115,000 images, and the Instagram page is now nearing 100,000 followers. Mackey’s wish of having the “Black Men Smile” brand become a platform for empowerment and affirmation has turned into a reality.
Additionally, in February of 2022, Mackey was contacted by a senior buyer for Target in preparation for the following year’s collection. Expressing admiration for the brand’s mission and sought to include “Black Men Smile” in its 2024 collection.
On launch day, Mackey along with a collection of his friends and family gathered at the Target location at Atlantic Station to see the full collection in stores for the first time.
On display were the gray and black “Black Men Smile” t-shirts accompanied by a banner of a young Black girl in a “Black Joy Is Revolutionary” sky blue hoodie, which left Mackey staring in awe.
Joining Mackey was Jeremiah Griffin, 25, Mackey’s mentee, videographer, and consultant who first became acquainted with Mackey after meeting at a “Black Men Smile” sponsored event in 2019. Griffin flew to Atlanta from Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he lives to take part in the celebration.
“Black Men Smile” clothing is now in 1900 Target stores across America for purchase. The collection will run in stores until the second week in March of 2024.
“It’s humbling and wildly inspiring to see how far we’ve come,” Mackey said. “The journey began with a simple hashtag shared on Instagram and an invitation for Black men to reflect on a single question that most say they’ve never been asked before: ‘“What makes you smile?’
Dionte Boyd, 29, said he didn’t even know about the Black History Month collection at Target until his friend told him about it.
“Seeing it, I do like everything I’ve seen so far and my friend was telling me everything here is Black-owned, so that’s dope,” said Boyd. “I’m glad they put it out early and I was just poking around and seeing what was available. I was checking out this ‘Black All Day Every Day” shirt. There isn’t anything missing to me, I think what’s more important is what’s here like Black-owned clothes, black-owned designers, so I’m glad it’s here so whoever buys it, it can go back in the pockets of Black people.”
The importance of the collection being in a major franchise like Target “is dope,” said Boyd.
“Anything that is majorly distributed for people of color is dope because they don’t get a chance to experience the benefits of everyone else that’s not of color,” Boyd told The Atlanta Voice .