El Che

El Che;

When I was growing up in third world Central America during the cival war, El Che’s legacy was ingrained in the very fabric of what it is to be in a revolution. You're fighting for the liberation of your motherland and would chose death over its unjust and corrupt incarceration.

Today I ask my self what Che would say knowing that his face has been commercialized? Is this not the same corruption and injustice that he stood against? How is it that items with Che’s face are sold all over the world and yet his people don’t seem to prosper or benefit from the sale of those items? This is not the legacy he left behind. I’m sure that during his unexpected execution he was not scheming up ways of becoming a fashion icon for mass production, under sweat shop conditions.

I feel pain and anger for Che knowing that he would disapprove of the commercialization of his face. The same way Tupac would disapprove knowing that “my name is what” produced some of his posthumous songs. And the same way Afeni Shakur would disapprove of anyone making money from Tupac's legacy without Tupac's people benefiting from it. More recently can you imagine what Michael Jackson would have to say as his legacy is misused with no direct benefits to his children and estate?

Truth be told unless items promoting Che are helping his people then I don’t see the point in anyone paying a cent for those items, it misrepresentents Che’s legacy.