Here's My Thing John Roussos

For this episode, I'm joined by my friend Nathan DeVaughn, also known as DeVoCustoms. He is an artist in Portland, OR who has had his work worn by CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, among other athletes. He came on the podcast to talk about his journey as an artist and experience as a black man in the United States.

DeVoCustoms: https://www.instagram.com/devocustoms/ 

https://twitter.com/devocustoms

Claima Stories with Bimma: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/claima-stories-with-bimma/id1495113118

Here's My Thing: https://www.instagram.com/heresmything_/

https://twitter.com/heresmything_

0:50 DeVoCustoms origin story

3:56 does his work crossover at Adidas

4:55 being at Adidas

5:18 Everyone Is Creative

7:33 making art for CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic

12:42 working on clothing

13:50 where does he see himself in 5-years

16:17 not selling anything from his first collection

18:27 what did he learn from that experience

21:10 people who resonated with that experience

22:15 the story behind the Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor piece and why he chose to donate to Don’t Shoot Portland

28:27 his thoughts on Blackout Tuesday and social media

32:05 how should the social media narrative be pushed if we actually want to see legitimate change

33:43 how feels about the protests

36:32 his experience being a black man in Portland

40:57 unlearning and learning

44:14 being a black artist right now

47:06 Shout out Claima Stories

In 5th grade, my parents signed me up for cotillion. Here, hundreds of other 11-year olds and I learned the specific roles and disciplines of each utensil plate and glass. If I ever told my parents I enjoyed it, I can assure you that it was because I don’t like disappointing people. People would get denied because they came underdressed, I find a slight parallel with the people getting denied at grocery stores for not wearing masks.

 @heresmything_

@johnroussosss

It's been a few weeks and the normal social media climate seems to be creeping back in. Not barging in or even knocking on the door, but pulling into the driveway and shining its lights through the front window.  

#BlackLivesMatter

@heresmything_

@johnroussosss 

It’s an interesting complex, as being around so many people brings on a sense of pseudo normalcy, yet the main reason that we’ve come together in masses is to stand up against one the most normal things this country knows. This episode is about the 4th day of the police brutality protests in Portland, OR.  #BlackLivesMatter

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Karen can't help but say things "karenly". 

#BlackLivesMatter

A man wearing a Gucci t-shirt bumped into me at a street fair. He had a couple of burlap sacks of potatoes for pecs and a two locomotives that I guessed he called his legs.