Long Island Teacher Creates 'Wearable Art' For Black Lives Matter

LEVITTOWN, NY — Phoebe Eligon-Jones, a high school English teacher of almost 20 years who currently lives in Levittown, began Blupoetres Creations while making custom stickers and apparel for her sorority sisters. Two years later, Eligon-Jones has transformed her hobby into a licensed company with a purpose — to create "wearable art" that makes a statement and brings pride to her family and students.

Through Blupoetres Creation, named after her pen name since college, Eligon-Jones wanted to create uplifting messages that would resonate with her children and students and "make young girls and young men feel important and seen," she told Patch in a phone interview Tuesday.

"And that's how I came up with wearable art, so that what you wear speaks for you," Eligon-Jones said.

This mission has most recently manifested in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has seen a nationwide surge in support as protesters in every state demonstrated against police brutality and systemic racism following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody in June.

When demonstrations for racial justice began taking place on Long Island, Eligon-Jones said she and her husband wanted to go to the protests after having a difficult conversation with their 11-year-old son about the movement and whether he wanted to get involved.

"That's how I made the Black Lives Matter shirt," she said. "I wanted something that he could wear and that we could wear with him and protest — I wanted us to be seen."

Through Blupoetres Creations, Eligon-Jones has designed a collection of shirts, called “Blackity Black Black,” that celebrates Blackness and affirms that Black lives matter. Eligon-Jones' mother suggested she create her "Black Votes Matter" shirt, which is now included in the collection, and she's received design requests from other fans, as well.

But while Eligon-Jones said she received supportive feedback on her Black Lives Matter designs, not all responses were positive.

Since WABC-TV ran a June 25 story featuring Eligon-Jones and Blupoetres Creations, she said she has received hate messages, threats and "painful accusations" against her and her family.

"I went from being really excited and very proud of my business to being fearful and defeated," she said.

That’s when the support and encouragement of her students, who call her "Mama EJ," came in and helped her continue her work through Blupoetres Creations.

For nearly 20 years as a teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, Eligon-Jones has led mentoring workshops for high-achieving minority students to talk about mental health and what it means to be a person of color today. Core to the lessons of those workshops, Eligon-Jones said, was that "no matter what people say, you just have to keep being positive."

"I want to make sure that my students, my children, my family, my sorority sisters — anybody dealing with prejudice — know that you're worth it," she said. "You are loved. You are somebody."

So when she faced backlash and racist comments after the news report, current and former students of hers reminded her of her own lessons to them, telling her to stay positive despite some negative — and at times, frightening — responses.

"As hard as it is, you can't let the negative take over your life," Eligon-Jones said. "You can't allow people to steal your joy and your happiness. Even though I've been teaching that for years … it still was hard for me to swallow the racist pill only a few weeks ago when my story broke. And I had to be reminded."

Her students reached out to her directly and responded to negative comments in her defense.

"To have my students come back and tell me, 'You're doing the right thing. Don't worry about the haters' — that was an emotional moment for me," she said.

As an educator, Eligon-Jones said her job is to shape the future citizens and leaders of the country. But "how can we do that if they second guess themselves?" she said. "So I have to keep pushing, even when I’m getting spit on and stepped on and cursed out."

Now, Eligon-Jones has begun using the TikTok account her students set up for her before the coronavirus pandemic shut schools down in March to spread awareness about ongoing racial injustice.

Though the account began as a fun way to bond with students and keep them motivated through the coronavirus lockdown, since Floyd’s death, it has become a tool for Eligon-Jones to talk about racial justice and real issues, she said, "because again, everything that I do, I want my family to be proud. I want my children to be proud. I want my students to be proud."

Eligon-Jones' TikTok followers were the ones who suggested a design featuring a phrase she'd used in several videos: "Black Lives Matter yesterday, today, and tomorrow." The account now has around 17,800 followers and nearly 150,000 likes.

And though she still faces backlash and threats, Eligon-Jones said she continues to fight for justice and equity so that she can make sure her students and children — who are both named after American presidents — can feel fully included and supported in this country.

"From birth, I wanted my children to know that even from their names that they are meant to be here,” she said. “They deserve every single right, every single opportunity as the next person.