Pat Cleveland on the Work to Be Done

The last few weeks have seen immense turmoil and division, but also unity behind the BLM movement. Thus, we have chosen to re-publish an interview with Pat Cleveland from WWD. Pat discusses her own experiences with racism, police brutality, and what brands can do to enact change. 

WWD: What unique challenges do you feel you have faced due to your race?

PC: I’m a little bit of everything but I’m considered African American. Because one drop is the spice in the soup, you know? So I am an African American and Swedish combination. I have been on the border of all kinds of racial discrimination situations. I feel I have been very lucky because I have a very good attitude about humanity in general. When I see people have not been educated, traveled and have not partaken in the cultures, I am very forgiving by nature. I say, “Well, they just don’t know. And people have fear.” We’re not poison, we’re just human. We’re not going to hurt you. In other words, just open your arms and let you hear our heart beat. I’ve always felt that people can hear my soul and know that I am a good person.

But I have incidents in New Jersey where the police have come after me for nothing. One night I was driving home not far from Cherry Hill after doing a job in New York. At that time, the police were doing horrid things to young women in cars. I was driving along slowly, my daughter was with me. I’m considered black and then they followed us without putting their lights on or pulling us over. It got really scary…at some point, they put the lights on to stop. Before I knew it, I was arrested. Five police cars surrounded my car at gunpoint. I said to my daughter, “Keep your phone on. Call Daddy. I’m putting my hands up. Show your white face so they don’t kill us.” Then they slammed me face down onto the hood of the car, arrested me and had me at gunpoint. That was about 2006. They just slammed me into the jail, I was handcuffed to a wall in a cell for hours and hours before anyone could get me out of there. You know what that was for? It was the rookie police and they just stopped me to find out who I was. It was very frightening. They released me some hours later. It’s a good thing I know how to meditate. I just took it as a meditation moment. I was harassed really badly. When we first came to America around 2004, my daughter’s friend’s boyfriend was shot in the back by police. He was a football player, he was African American. He had dreadlocks and he was going through a moment of epiphany so he ran to the church to cut his dreadlocks off. Someone called the police. They Tasered him. They beat him up. He was running for his life and they shot and killed him. He was only 17 years old. That’s how I came into America after living in Europe.

WWD: What should the fashion industry be doing now to fight racist policies and police brutality?

PC: The thing about the fashion world is they are all lovers, dreamers and creative people. They are not bad people. They don’t really have anything to do with all this horrid stuff that is going on. What they can do is just stand up and say something like, “We don’t like this. We’re going to keep creating and using people of all colors because that’s who we are. We are the palette of humanity. We don’t appreciate hatred towards people, animals or anything.” We just have to be conscious of what we put out for the future. What they need to do is inspire other people to realize, “Hey, we don’t stand for this. We’re the fashion world and we don’t take this. Our vision for the future is love and fun and being gorgeous. We’re here to create beauty.” Where does beauty start? It starts in the seed of compassion.

WWD: What should brands be doing to enact change from within, promote inclusion in their workforces and in their imagery and products?

PC: Brands should have mini divisions within the companies. You should delegate, as we do any way in fashion. We have different sections of lifestyle, for instance. Lifestyle and branding seem to be very important right now. That’s been going on for a while. There needs to be opportunities for all kinds of people. There is not only one lifestyle. Everything blends in together. They should try to blend the lifestyles. The story of the future is right now, you can see that everybody wants to hold hands and unite. There are so many talented people out there that need to be given a chance. Sometimes a company like Target brings in one designer. More of that is needed. People have to have their own responsibility. Everybody has to be strong. We are kind of on our own…hopefully, people will start to have a smile in the morning and will be able to socialize again. Fashion is built on socializing. All of these artists are so inspired by international flavors and cultures. We are just a big bowl of crazy fruit salad now, with some nuts thrown in. We just have to take the sweetness of it and try to illuminate that part of joy in our production. The generosity of the big companies is so important. We need to dress people who can’t afford it. Fashion is all about dignifying yourself and appreciating yourself and dressing to be protected. We need to create good things that don’t hurt people’s bodies, like fabrics that don’t take away your energy.

WWD: What role can the media play? 

PC: Media is fabulous. I love the media. The thing is we’re not building walls against each other. We’re opening spaces. Everything is so fluid and present and now. We have the ability to know the truth. What we do in journalism and in any kind of expression is [look for] how divine can we be and find the best part of the story even though there is this dark dirty energy going around. It’s not even nourishing dirt. How do we get to the good nourishing soil of who we are? We are writers and photographers. Where’s the beauty in this ugly moment? We’re waking up to this not being a good situation. We need to have a beautiful life from the heart. Everybody knows something is wrong. And we’re conscious because media is telling the truth. The truth is we’re all born with this beautiful human nature and this is what we need to focus on. Our human nature is divine, not the kind that hurts other people.

WWD: What makes you feel hopeful at this moment?

PC: Every time I take a breath I just hope. Hope is so expanding. When I get up in the morning, I light a candle for the whole world. Every time I chant, I meditate or do anything, I think that I’m embracing every energy that is possible to send it out so that others know they have it too. People in fashion are very generous with their energy and their concern. Some people have more than others but whatever little bit they have, they try to make the world a better place.

Original interview publish on June 9th, 2020 in WWD, here.