Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Atempa.
Joseph, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
RAZA Brand started after I had lost my old jobs due to gentrification and racial discrimination. It’s honestly a long story but to keep it short, I thought it would be a great idea to create a small online business that helps me stay afloat as a college student and reflects me! That’s why if you go through RAZA’s Instagram (@razabrand) or website, it’s very much about social justice activism and advocacy because that’s literally my life and the life of my friends and family that we have to live daily. Although “Raza” is a term used by Chicanx folks, the activism/advocacy I promote with RAZA Brand is for everyone – all Black folks, all Latinx folks, Indigenous folks, everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community, disabled folks, undocumented folks, etc. Other than sharing informative posts and mutual aid resources, I also host fundraisers through the clothes RAZA Brand sells and a portion of the profits have gone to different causes such as One Tree Planted and The Water Project. I hope as RAZA Brand grows so will our efforts and ability to help people!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Sort of! There’s obviously challenges when you start a business. You don’t always know what you’re doing, who to contact for what, what you should research, how to get a certain product started, worrying about what to do next if a product flops, how to keep it growing, do you even want to continue it, taking feedback and listening to feedback that is just downright not useful a lot of the times, etc.
RAZA – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As for what I do specifically with RAZA Brand, I kind of do everything. I do the research, I find businesses to help me create products, I do photography, I run the website, I pack and ship things by myself. As for art designs, I work with my artist friends and they help bring my sketches/ideas to life. Huge shout out to my best friend Alondra Martinez who has helped me a lot in that. Also, Elena Leyva whose art ya’ll will be seeing a lot of very soon!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is if you’re still here then you’re winning. Apart from RAZA Brand, I have been doing activist work for the past two years with the MECHA organization on Palomar College where I’ve helped organized protests, fundraisers, student events, community classes/panels etc. There has been so many times where the pressure of dealing with more fights against corrupt systems and discrimination makes you want to quit. However, you just can’t. As soon as you give up, then your oppressor wins. Same goes with RAZA Brand. If I quit then the gentrifiers, I lost my old job to wins. If I quit, then racists win. If you feel like you’re stagnant, or you’ve hardly moved, or you regressed slightly, don’t worry. You are still winning by being here and keeping it pushing. Eventually, you’ll get over any obstacles placed in front of you. You just have to remain.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razabrand
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/razabrand
- Other: razabrand.com
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