A Palm Beach, Florida high-school senior decided to make a political statement using her prom dress, which showed pictures of 15 African-Americans who were killed in police-involved shootings, including Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, and Michael Brown.
Milan Bolden-Morris, 17, told designer Terrence Torrance, who described the dress as “pretty with a purpose,” “O.K., I’ll do whatever you need me to do.” She added, “I feel like it was a very vital issue.” Torrence had designed Morris’ cousin’s wedding dress.
Morris posted a picture of herself in the dress on Instagram with this statement: “Yes I’m black. Yes I’m 17. Yes GOD is using me to convey a message that’s bigger than me. #AllLivesMatter️#BlackLivesMatter #MoveWithPurpose.”
After she wore the dress to the Pahokee High School prom last Friday, Morris told CNN, “When someone loses a mother, father or child in unnecessary circumstances, it should not be overlooked but addressed.” Torrence said, “With all the killings that was going on, it just hit me one day: you should put that into a dress. I wanted to paint a picture and put a story out there through my fashion, and I wanted to show we could spread out message with not just posters and fliers but also with garments.”
Morris, who played basketball in high school, will attend Boston College in autumn 2017.