What shoes will you wear this morning?

The concept for this column was born before the events of October 7, 2023. In fact, the column was first inspired by seeing the many feet covered in the popular Yeezy shoes in Gann’s hallways. The shoes are the creation of Kanye West, an artist who promotes the idea on social networks such as Instagram and Twitter that Jews control the media, among other antisemitic tropes. My questions about the fashion of these shoes before a post October 7 world seemed subtle at the time. Maybe even ludicrous. Then Jewish farmers and music festival-goers were massacred in Israel, followed by tremendous increases of anti semitism throughout the world.

Today, in a world where there are so many threats to Jewish identity, some of them violent, it is hard to know what to respond to. So I wonder about overlooking even the smallest fashion statement. The Yeezys remain stylish and popular. But does wearing these shoes overlook Kanye West’s comments about the Jews’ control of the media? In the end, it may be that standing up to antisemitism might be as simple as changing the little things in life, like picking the shoes you are going to wear this morning. How we walk the world matters. A lot.

Picture credit: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/adidas-yeezy-shoes-kanye-west-rcna87129