User:Lovelace Lee III/LaTasha Was Murdered t-shirt

In early 1992, Los Angeles publicist/graphic artist Lovelace Lee III created the “LaTasha Was Murdered” national awareness campaign to bring the murder of 15-year-old honor student LaTasha Harlins back to the consciousness of Black America. Harlins had been killed in a senseless struggle with Korean store owner Soon Ja Du in South Los Angeles on March 16, 1991—over a bottle of orange juice. Harlins was accused of stealing by Soon, but the girl died with more than enough money in her hand to pay for the juice. Months later, Lee was appalled to discover that most Black Americans were oblivious to the murder. He vowed to create an awareness that would make a difference. “We can’t let our children be killed and forgotten,” Lee said. Harlins’ murder is one of the events credited with igniting the destructive 1992 Los Angeles Riots. The campaign Lee created touched the African American media all over the country with 35 newspapers running the article. Most newspapers ran the article and photo depicting the rapper known as HOT SHOT angrily displaying the message on the t-shirt. The two-color, t-shirt design features red and black inks on a stark white garment with a striking, upper case font. Lee boldly printed the message on the front and back of the t-shirt—a revolutionary concept for 1992. The t-shirt’s message reads:

“LaTasha Harlins was most certainly murdered. Justice was not served and the Black community is not mocked. We as a    people value the lives of our young and will not be totally disrespected. America, remember your Pledge of Allegiance.”

It was Lee’s idea to use the “LaTasha Was Murdered” t-shirt as a fundraising tool for the LaTasha Harlins Foundation. His goal was to raise $150,000 and then ask for matching funds from corporate America to build a youth center in South Los Angeles to honor the slain teenager. The t-shirt was popular as Lee printed and disturbed samples across the country. He promised—and delivered a t-shirt to every editor who ran the story “Who Was LaTasha Harlins? And Why Don’t You Know?” A member of the popular rap group South Central Cartel wore the t-shirt in the music video ‘Ya Getz Clowned. Actor Kadeem Hardison was so taken with the shirt that Lee’s friend Lloyd Jackson gave him one to wear during the filming of an ABC After-School Special. The advertising industry bible ADWEEK even covered the story of Lee’s efforts. Interest in the slain teenager waned and Lee never sold a single t-shirt. Of the hundreds of samples he made and distributed, Lee has one left. During Black History Month in 2007, Lee gave a presentation about why he created the “LaTasha Was Murdered” t-shirt to the sixth grade history class of Michelle Gaines-Jones at Orville Wright Middle School in Los Angeles. The iconic photo of HOT SHOT wearing the “LaTasha Was Murdered” t-shirt was created by photographer Jim Creighton.