Black Lives Matter demonstrators protest outside Met Gala; some arrested
Photos taken outside Monday night's 75th Met Gala show well-dressed disruptors being carried away by New York City police.
Multiple people were arrested outside the 75th Met Gala Monday night as they demonstrated on behalf of Black Lives Matter.
The annual benefit gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute returned this year after the coronavirus pandemic led to 2020’s cancellation, and some protesters clashed with police as authorities tried to clear the demonstration.
Photos from Monday night in The Daily Mail show disruptors being carried away by New York City Police and note that a flyer at the event read that the protest was organized by an “autonomous group of NYC abolitionists who believe that policing does not protect and serve communities.”
“The NYPD has a total financial allocation of $11 billion per year,” the flyer read. “This money goes towards racist policing that destroys Black and brown communities while people who are struggling do not get the resources they need. CARE, not COPS, is the answer.”
The Met Gala, a gathering of ornately-dressed famous folk who attend the high-profile event each year and hob-nob to benefit the Met Museum, usually takes place the first Monday in May but was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Canceled entirely last year, the theme for 2021 was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.”
“Over the past year, because of the pandemic, the connections to our homes have become more emotional, as have those to our clothes,” Met curator Andrew Bolton said in his own statement. “For American fashion, this has meant an increased emphasis on sentiment over practicality.”
Celebrities like model Iman, actress Lupita Nyong’o and rap star Lil Nas X dazzled on the red carpet.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attended the 75th Met Gala for the first time dressed in a white gown designed by Brother Vellies with the phrase, “Tax the Rich,” splashed across the back.
Aurora James, founder and creative director of Brother Vellies and the founder of the 15 Percent Pledge — a promise from retailers to commit 15% of their retail space to Black-owned businesses — told Vogue, “We can never get too comfortable in our seats at the table once they’ve been given. We must always continue to push ourselves, push our colleagues, push the culture and push the country forward.”
“Fashion is changing, America is changing,” she noted. “And as far as this theme goes, I think Alexandria and I are a great embodiment of the language fashion needs to consider adding to the general lexicon as we work towards a more sustainable, inclusive and empowered future.”
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