‘One sign comes down, 1,000s go up’
A Meridian teacher was told to remove a sign from her classroom because it violated district policy on “content-neutral classrooms.” Now, a Boise business is showing support by making T-shirts emblazoned with the sign.
The sign and T-shirt say, “Everyone is welcome here,” above hands of different skin tones holding hearts.
Sarah Inama, a world civilization teacher at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Meridian, said she was told by administrators in February that her sign didn’t “allow people to express differing opinions, that it is controversial in today’s political environment,” the Idaho Statesman reported. A spokesperson for the West Ada School District later clarified that the problem with the sign wasn’t its welcoming message, but the imagery of hands with different skin tones, which “aligns with themes commonly associated with DEI initiatives.”
Inama’s story made national news. In the days since, the teacher said she has received an outpouring of support from parents, fellow teachers and former students. Now, two friends in Boise have teamed up take the support “worldwide.”
The idea started when former Kiss FM radio host Chris Stewart, known as Lucky the DJ, heard about Inama’s story and wanted to get students and teachers in the district to wear shirts displaying the welcoming message.
“One sign comes up, thousands go up,” Stewart told the Statesman.
Stewart called Shawn Wright, owner of Brigade Screen Printing in Boise, with the idea. Neither expected that days later, they’d have sold over 15,000 of the shirts — at cost. The shirts and hoodies range from $18 to $36, according to Brigade’s website.
“It just blew up,” Stewart said.
Wright’s eight-person team at Brigade — located at 6902 S. Eisenman Road — has been pulling 15 and 16-hour days to produce the shirts in response to the orders pouring in from across the country and around the world. Wright and Stewart told the Statesman that they’ve received orders from Germany, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, among others.
Shawn Wright, owner of Brigade Screen Printing, and staff work with a small army of volunteers printing “Everyone is welcome here” shirts.
They’ve also engaged the help of dozens of volunteers, including Julie Wiley, a former school counselor, who said she was “grateful” to be able to help spread a positive, welcoming message and to see the community come together.
“This kind of thing, a poster like this, has been our classrooms … since we were kids,” Wiley said. “Of course everyone’s welcome. It’s the law.”
“That’s one of the best things about America, is everyone can come and get an education and be able to move forward,” Wiley said.
Stewart said that part of the initiative is a social media campaign instructing individuals to post a picture of themselves wearing the T-shirt or hoodie on Monday paired with the hashtags #EveryoneIsWelcome, #InclusiveIdaho, or #WestAdaSchools.
Volunteers told the Statesman they plan to wear the shirts around town or while picking up kids from school. One volunteer, John Shoemaker, told the Statesman he wouldn’t be getting his own shirt until everyone else who wanted one had one — but he bought two for his grandchildren in Washington state.
“I don’t think the story is the sign coming down,” Stewart said. “I think the story is all the signs going up.”
Orders for shirts and hoodies have flooded the print shop since the West Ada School District said a poster with the same slogan violated policy and would have to be taken down.
Brigade is hosting an event this weekend where people who ordered the shirts online may pick them up. The event will take place from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday at 6902 S. Eisenman Road.
KTVB reported earlier on Stewart and Wright’s initiative.
‘Content neutral’? West Ada says policy directs school to remove ‘everyone is welcome’ sign
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