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OAKLAND — Ice cream titan Ben & Jerry’s made waves this week with the release of “Pecan Resist,” its limited edition — and highly political — flavor calling on Americans to resist oppression and injustice ahead of the midterm elections.
It was a defining moment for Oakland artist and organizer Favianna Rodriguez, who created the vibrant artwork for the ice cream pint’s label.
“I designed it to be about dignity and joy and resistance,” said Rodriguez, 40. “I wanted it to be fantastical and attractive to youth and show people of color that they can express themselves.”
The pint shows three people of color standing shoulder-to-shoulder but facing in different directions. The character on the left is gender queer, meaning not exclusively masculine or feminine, according to Rodriguez, and has her fist in the air. The character on the right is wearing a hijab, a tribute to one of Rodriguez’s close friends. And the character in the middle stares straight ahead, holding an orange sign that reads, “resist.”
Ben & Jerry’s announced the limited batch flavor Tuesday, saying, “We can peacefully resist the Trump administration’s regressive and discriminatory policies and build a future that values inclusivity, equality, and justice for people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, refugees, and immigrants.”
President Trump has not commented on the flavor. The White House couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.
The company also announced it is donating $25,000 to each of four organizations working to support people of color: Color of Change, Honor the Earth, Neta and the Women’s March. Social activism has long been part of Ben & Jerry’s MO. The company renamed its Chubby Hubby flavor to Hubby Hubby in 2009 to mark same sex marriage in Vermont and created EmpowerMint in 2016 to promote voting rights, according to USA Today.
Pecan Resist, a play on “We can Resist,” is a chocolate ice cream with white and dark fudge chunks, pecans, walnuts and fudge-covered almonds.
Rodriguez, a life-long artist who travels the world as an organizer, said she’s been “at the front line of social movements,” creating artwork around abortion, climate change, immigrants rights and other topics.
Creating artwork on a national platform was a pivotal moment of visibility for her, she said, because people of color are often left out of critical cultural moments.
“This is why there have to be women of color in a creative space,” she said. “To see people react to seeing that…it blew my mind. It reminded me that representation matters.”
