Hoda Katebi Explained

Hoda Katebi
Birth Date:27 January 1995
Birth Place:Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Alma Mater:University of Chicago

Hoda Katebi (Persian: هدی کاتبی) is an American writer and activist whose work focuses on garment workers' rights, labor in fashion supply chains, Muslim identity, politics and clothing in Iran, and fighting surveillance programs and militarism. She is the founder of Blue Tin Production, the first apparel manufacturing worker co-operative in the United States entirely run by working-class women of color.[1]

Early life

Katebi was born and raised in Oklahoma by her Iranian immigrant parents. She has discussed the challenges she faced wearing a hijab to her Oklahoma school when classmates would assault her and try to take off her scarf.

In 2016, she graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Politics and writing

Katebi began her writing career in 2013 by publishing essays and fashion critiques on her own platform called JooJoo Azad, meaning "free bird" in Persian.[2] Katebi's early writing discussed Muslim identity, politics and fashion, garment workers, fashion in Iran, and racial politics in the United States. Katebi maintained a "Boycott List" of fashion companies engaged in human rights violations.

Katebi is the author of a photography book entitled Tehran Streetstyle (2016).[3] She has published essays in Vogue.com, Washington Post, Columbia Journalism Review and others.[4] Katebi is a contributing author to I Refuse to Condemn: Resisting racism in times of national security, published in 2020 by Manchester University Press.[5]

In October 2016, Katebi was arrested for protesting the annual Illinois Tactical Officers Association Conference and Weapons Expo.[6] She has been a vocal activist against police militarization and surveillance programs such as Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and has conducted trainings on the War on Terror and anti-Muslim racism around the world.[7] Katebi identifies as an abolitionist.[8]

In February 2018, Katebi was interviewed on WGN about her book, Tehran Streetstyle, and fashion in Iran. When the discussion turned to the question of America's military presence in the Middle East and Iran's supposed nuclear weapons, the interviewer suggested that Katebi's criticism of American imperialism did not "sound like an American." Katebi defended herself by saying "that's because I've read."[9] [10]

Global book club #BecauseWeveRead

Since its creation after the WGN interview, Katebi's radical book club #BecauseWeveRead has launched chapters around the world that host discussion sessions and mobilize communities in various social justice efforts.[11] Katebi says the book club is working toward "doing what our institutions have systematically failed to do: educate us on reality."[12] Topics covered through the readings include anti-Blackness, Orientalism, and capitalism, among other issues. #BecauseWeveRead also has launched 'Emergency Reads' on urgent, unfolding issues such as the Sudanese revolution in January 2019 or the Indian communications blackout and military escalation on Kashmir in October 2019.[13] [14]

  1. Global book club #BecauseWeveRead
chapters have organized community events, prison book drives, poetry slams, protests, and other events on topics related to readings. Katebi works with publishers to provide free ebooks of each reading, and ends each unit with a global conversation on YouTube Live with different guests. Past guests have included Naomi Klein and Arundhati Roy.[15] [16]

Katebi's #BecauseWeveRead has been featured in media outlets including Dazed Magazine and Refinery29.[17] [18]

Clothing co-operative and garment labor activism

Blue Tin Production

Katebi supports ethical fashion and advocates for the abolition of fast fashion.[19] She argues that fast fashion subjects garment workers to "systemic gender-based violence" including sexual and verbal abuse by their employers as well as dangerous working conditions in sweatshops.[20] [21]

In early 2019, Katebi launched a clothing co-operative, Blue Tin Production, which is run by refugee and immigrant women and promotes ethical garment production and is the first of its kind in the United States. In an interview with Vogue, Katebi stated "her overall goal is to offer designers in the U.S.—and abroad—a no-brainer alternative to sweatshops with "radical transparent production."[22]

In December 2019 Blue Tin Production published its first annual report.[23]

Katebi's activism and Blue Tin Production has garnered attention from international fashion and journalism outlets, including Vogue, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Guardian, and Medium.[24] [25] [26] [27]

'Revolution-Washing'

In 2017 Katebi coined the term 'Revolution Washing' which has since been used to describe the ways in which fast-fashion brands attempt to brand themselves as progressive to appeal to conscious consumers while using sweatshop labor.[28]

In August 2019 Katebi went on a delegation to Indonesia to meet with garment workers working in Nike, H&M, GAP, and other fast-fashion sweatshops.[29]

Acknowledgements and awards

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hoda Katebi Is Launching a Fashion Production Co-Op for Immigrant and Refugee Women in Chicago. 2021-06-26. Vogue. January 25, 2019 . en-US.
  2. Web site: See why @hodakatebi of JooJoo Azad & @becauseweveread is one of @crainschicago #Crain20s. Crain's Chicago Business. en. 2019-04-16.
  3. Web site: JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد: TEHRAN STREETSTYLE: A PROJECT OF IDENTITY AND PERSONAL NARRATIVE. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. 2019-04-16.
  4. Web site: Writer, Entrepreneur, and Activist Hoda Katebi on France's Proposed Hijab Ban. 2021-06-26. Vogue. April 15, 2021 . en-US.
  5. Web site: Manchester University Press – I Refuse to Condemn. 2021-06-26. Manchester University Press. en-US.
  6. Web site: JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد: 4 Things You Need to Know about Police, Militarization, and Islamophobia. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. 2020-01-27.
  7. Web site: PRESS + EVENTS. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. 2020-01-28.
  8. Web site: Tank Magazine. Tank Magazine. en-gb. 2020-01-28.
  9. Web site: WGN anchor told a Muslim blogger that she didn't 'sound like an American.' Her response went viral.. Schoenberg. Nara. chicagotribune.com. February 21, 2018 . en-US. 2019-04-16.
  10. Web site: Fashion Blogger and Activist Hoda Katebi is Changing More Than Clothes. Suryajaya. Leonard. Chicago magazine. en. 2019-04-16.
  11. Web site: Because We've Read (@becauseweveread) • Instagram photos and videos. www.instagram.com. en. 2020-01-27.
  12. Web site: This Radical Book Club Has Your Summer Reading Sorted. Gil. Natalie. www.refinery29.com. April 7, 2018 . en-GB. 2020-01-27.
  13. Web site: JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد: #BECAUSEWEVEREAD EMERGENCY READ: ON SUDAN. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. 2020-01-27.
  14. Web site: JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد: BECAUSEWEVEREAD x STANDWITHKASHMIR: Emergency Read on Kashmir. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. September 22, 2019 . 2020-01-27.
  15. Web site: JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد: #BECAUSEWEVEREAD SEPTEMBER: THE SHOCK DOCTRINE. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. 2020-01-27.
  16. Web site: JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد: #BECAUSEWEVEREAD FEB/MARCH: ARUNDHATI ROY ON EMPIRE & CORPORATE POWER. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. 2020-01-27.
  17. Web site: The online book club all about real history and radical politics. Dazed. July 18, 2018. Dazed. en. 2020-01-27.
  18. Web site: This Radical Book Club Has Your Summer Reading Sorted. Gil. Natalie. www.refinery29.com. April 7, 2018 . en-GB. 2020-01-27.
  19. Web site: BOYCOTT LIST. JOOJOO AZAD جوجو آزاد. 2019-04-16.
  20. Web site: Hoda Katebi Is Launching a Fashion Production Co-Op for Immigrant and Refugee Women in Chicago. Vogue. January 25, 2019 . en. 2019-04-16.
  21. Web site: Fashion production co-op run by refugee, immigrant women to open in Chicago. Chicago Sun-Times. February 2019 . en. 2019-04-16.
  22. Web site: Hoda Katebi Is Launching a Fashion Production Co-Op for Immigrant and Refugee Women in Chicago. Farra. Emily. Vogue. January 25, 2019 . en. 2020-01-28.
  23. Web site: BLUE TIN PRODUCTION CO-OP on Instagram: "Though our social media might not have shown it (we've been too busy on the ground!) we just wrapped up our FIRST OFFICIAL YEAR OF…". Instagram. en. 2020-01-28.
  24. Web site: US's first refugee-owned sewing group launches. Voices. 90 Days, 90. January 25, 2019. 90 Days, 90 Voices. 2019-04-16.
  25. Web site: A Muslim Fashion Blogger With a Fierce Message. Hawgood. Alex. March 7, 2018. The New York Times. en-US. 2019-05-17.
  26. Web site: WGN anchor told a Muslim blogger that she didn't 'sound like an American.' Her response went viral.. Schoenberg. Nara. February 21, 2018. The Chicago Tribune. en-US. 2019-05-17.
  27. News: 'You don't sound American', TV host tells Muslim blogger from Oklahoma. Dehghan. Saeed Kamali. February 14, 2018. The Guardian. 2019-05-17. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  28. Web site: The BoF Podcast: Iran — A Fashion Industry Operating in the Underground. January 10, 2020. The Business of Fashion. en-GB. 2020-01-28.
  29. Web site: HODA KATEBI هدی کاتبی on Instagram: "HI THIS IS WHERE YOUR NIKES (and underarmour, and GAP, and Levis, & others...) are made. This sweatshop. The one with the barbed wire fence…". Instagram. en. 2020-01-27.
  30. Web site: 2019 Impact Awards – Hoda Katebi. Chicago Foundation for Women. en. 2019-04-16.
  31. Web site: 2020 Leaders For A New Chicago Awardees. 2021-06-28. The Field Foundation of Illinois. en-US.
  32. Web site: 40 Under 40. 2021-06-28. NIAC. en-US.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hoda Katebi".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.