H.E.R. — A Signal, Not a Slogan.
What we choose to wear says everything about what we’re willing to defend.

 

I didn’t realize how much I’d been holding in until I heard someone say, “They’re not even pretending anymore.” And they were right. The masks are off. The agenda is loud. And every day, something sacred gets defunded, deleted, or destroyed.

It’s getting harder to explain what’s happening in this country without sounding alarmist. But if you’ve been paying attention, really paying attention, you already feel it. You’ve seen the headlines: Stephen Colbert’s show canceled. Public radio defunded. NPR and PBS under pressure. Experts mocked, scientists silenced, reporters laid off. Libraries gutted. Education rewritten. Women’s rights, shredded.

And the more they strip away, the more it becomes clear: this isn’t just erosion. It’s erasure.

I’ve thought a lot about how we got here. But more importantly, I’ve been thinking about how we survive this, and what it means to rebuild with intention. Because it’s no longer enough to simply “be aware” or “stay informed.” We’re past that. We are in the season of choosing what comes next. And that choice isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s political. It’s emotional. It’s deeply, deeply personal.

For me, it begins with H.E.R.—Health. Education. Rights.

Not as slogans, but as the non-negotiables. The foundation beneath any society that intends to call itself just. The things being dismantled, state by state, with alarming speed and shameless cruelty. And the things I believe women, especially women on the margins, will fight hardest to protect, and most powerfully help restore.

That’s what the H.E.R. tee stands for. It’s not a trend or a gimmick. It’s a quiet rebellion. It’s a message worn plainly in public, by people who are done with neutrality. People who are no longer interested in funding corporations that fund our erasure. People like me, and maybe (hopefully) people like you.

I created Simply Edyn & Co. because I didn’t see enough businesses that aligned with the truth I was living. I wanted to build something ethically made, woman-owned, Black-owned, rooted in values, not vibes. I didn’t want performative politics or mass-produced graphics. I wanted something that felt like conviction you could wear. Something that doesn’t whisper when the world needs a shout.

You don’t need a movement to wear this shirt. You are the movement. If you believe in equity, in bodily autonomy, in real history, real science, and real care, you’re already part of it.

I know this may feel small. A shirt won’t save the world. But what you wear, what you fund, what you normalize, does shape it. This is about collective clarity. It’s about choosing to fund futures, not figureheads.

If you’ve been wondering what to do, how to help, or where to even begin: start here. Start with H.E.R.

We survive beautifully. We survive together.
And together, we rebuild what they tried to erase.

Shop the H.E.R. tee at Simply Edyn & Co. → CLICK HERE

Tasha Monroe

Founder, Simply Edyn & Co.

Editor & Writer, The Commons Dispatch

 

This piece is part of The Commons Dispatch.

Twice a month, we sit with the hard stuff that require reflection, resistance, and viewing the world as it actually is. It’s not perfect, but it’s honest. From Simply Edyn & Co., for whoever’s still listening.

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