16 Times Black Men Proved They Can Wear Pink, Mauve Or Whatever Pastel They Please

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Who would have known JAY-Z’s “mauve” suit to the Roc Nation Brunch last weekend would somehow set off a bell in my head?

“Yo, there’s a lot of brothas out there rocking pink as of late!”

I’m not exaggerating. Just this year alone, Meek Mill, Billy Porter, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Dwyane Wade all gave us a well-tailored pink suit of sorts in an array of shades. Of course, we can’t have this conversation without including the vivacious yee haw hot pink energy Lil Nas X brought this year’s Grammy Awards.

Granted, Black men wearing pink isn’t new, in the 2000s Cam’ron created an entire fashion trend of it drenched in bubble gum pink Baby Phat fur, but in these uber toxic masculinity times, doing something as simple as eating cheese sticks and sitting next to another man on the subway can a threaten a man’s already fragile ego.

So in 2020 rocking this traditionally girly hue, and not just in leisurewear, is a choice. As GQ writer Megahn Gustashaw noted last year, pink “still represents a blurring of codes that’s extremely now” and is being worn with confidence, ease, and sexiness.

Take a look at all these beautiful brothas flex in their pink and prove that anyone, regardless of gender and sexual orientation, can own this color and own it well: