Mia Jaye, the fiancée of Young Dolph, is using her Black Men Deserve To Grow Old streetwear brand to help facilitate a sense of healing and empowerment for her community, herself and her two children. Jaye and the late rapper share a son named Trey and a daughter named Aria.
The BMDTGO movement began in 2021 following the death of Jaye’s brother. That same year, on Nov. 17, Dolph was gunned down outside of Makeda’s Homemade Cookies in Memphis. “I had no idea that literally three months later from me launching that it would be myself,” said Jaye, noting that the campaign is now more personal than ever. “You know, my brother, we were like this, but [Dolph] was like my person, my soulmate, my children’s father,” she told WREG-TV.
Both of her children have launched collections under BMDTGO featuring shirts, socks, sweatshirts and hats with their designs honoring their father. “They feel so empowered, you know, as 6 and 9-year-olds, right,” she told the outlet. “Like, they feel so empowered, like they have a voice and they’re using it, and they see their creation come to life, and they’re just so proud of it.”
The entrepreneur has recently grown more vocal about the push for justice in Dolph’s case. “I don’t want people thinking we’re good [or] we’re just plugging along. No, we’re not. I don’t even know what’s going on… That’s why I opened up my mouth because the feet still need to be held to the fire,” she said.
As previously reported by REVOLT last month, Jaye told Rolling Stone that she was dismayed to learn through the media that the judge overseeing the death case had recused himself. “All I’m asking for is that they regard the family to the point where we at least get information first, before anyone else does,” she said. “If I continue to be silent, it might get to the place where all of my grievances will have to be acknowledged in an appeal process. That can’t happen.”
That same month, Jaye said that those involved in the fatal shooting deserved to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, calling the tragedy a premeditated capital murder. According to WREG, the trial for attempted murder and first-degree murder against Justin Johnson and Corenelius Smith remains on track to begin opening statements on March 11 with a new judge.
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