Reading Way too Much into T-Shirts

I’ve already experience so many new and exciting things Thessaloniki, all of them blog-worthy. I could write about my time walking and talking with anarchist and communist protestors. I could write about the beautiful ruins that seem to rise out of the city’s depths.

But this is me so I’m going to write about the cultural implications of t-shirts in Greece. If you read that sentence and didn’t immediately close this page, thank you. Just stick with me here.

The first day we were here, we went on a wonderful tour of downtown Thessaloniki. With the witty, talkative charm I’ve seen in many Greeks, our tour guide Daphne gave us a fascinating historical rundown of many attractions in Thessaloniki. The Rotunda of Galerius, a church built in around 300 CE that was altered by each dominant culture in Thessaloniki after that time, was particularly amazing. But all I could focus on while I was in the domed church were the t-shirts that Greek teenagers were wearing.

Many of the teenagers, who seemed to be on a field trip, were wearing shirts that had familiar names on them: Bronx, Brooklyn, New York. It’s always amazing to me how omnipresent and powerful American culture is around the globe. I remember how a lot of people in South Africa also wore clothes that referenced America and, in particular, New York.

It’s a reminder that New York is a powerful symbol for all things American. Combine imagery like the Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge – both immortalized in film – with the city’s connection to hip hop culture and basketball and you have an intoxicating cultural symbol. New York, Brooklyn, the Bronx – these places define “cool.”

I doubt any of those teenagers at the Rotunda could point out the Bronx or Brooklyn on a map, but the actual place doesn’t really matter to them. It’s what New York represents to people – a certain attitude, way of life or energy – that’s way more powerful.

This isn’t an epiphany. But seeing “Brooklyn” or”New York” inscribed in bolded, black letters on the clothing of Greek teenagers was a reminder that even in the colossal shitstorm that is 2017, America means something important to people around the world. More so than most places, America and New York are ideas not just physical locations. It’s a beautifully disturbing example of nationalism and corporate branding coming together. Globalization at its finest.