As prices go up for basic purchases, struggling families may be forced to push off basic needs like laundry.
For South Side native Desmond “Des” Owusu, making sure families in need have access to free laundry services is just one way to provide dignity to his community.
“Everyone needs clean clothes, but part of it is self esteem,” Owusu says. “It’s self worth–when you look good, you feel good, and when you feel good, you do good.”
Owusu’s project So Fresh, So Clean has taken off. Working out of Chatham Laundry, the team has supported more than 300 families with free laundry services over the past year.
The father of two is well known for his streetwear brands and in the Southside community for his work as the director of culture at Betty Shabazz International Charter School.
“We have to stick by each other, by any means necessary,” he says. “The ethos of it is to support your people and this is an actual manifestation of supporting my people.”
Q&A Desmond Owusu
What’s your story?
“I am a Chicago native–Southside born and raised. My parents are immigrants from Ghana, West Africa. I work mainly as a creative director and culture worker, and I’m the director of culture at Betty Shabazz International Charter School. Being raised in a close knit family with Ghanaian parents, I’ve always valued the idea of community and understood that I have a responsibility to give back.
My position at Betty Shabazz is full circle: I went there growing up and now I’m back in a leadership role. We focus on empowering Black youth to know their heritage and using that as a sense of pride to elevate their community and contribute. We create social leaders and that’s been instilled in me. As I’ve gotten older and had two daughters, I have an itch to contribute and help my community.
Can you tell readers about the many roles you take on, from educator to designer?
“I have two streetwear brands, one is We All We Got and the other is Chicago Girls Do It Better. Those two brands grew out of a streetwear boutique that I worked with called Fat Tiger Workshop [The hugely popular shop started by Joe Freshgoods, Terrell “Rello” Jones, Desmond Owusu and Vic Lloyd]. There, I was able to hone my skills and understand what it means to be a creative, learning graphic design, photography and entrepreneurship. For nine years, we ran an independent streetwear institution, creating products that meant something to us.
It was a way to build community. Our t-shirts had messages of pride and we were using clothes as a vehicle for storytelling. I think that part of my experience has helped me realize when I try to help better my community, I want to approach everything as if it were a design.”
What is the So Fresh, So Clean project?
“‘So Fresh, So Clean’ started in October 2023 while I was doing work with the National Youth Advocacy Program (NYAP). I was trying to figure out direct ways to engage with the community. The idea came from a principal on the east coast who transformed an empty locker room in his school into a laundromat. There were kids in the school being made fun of for coming to school in dirty clothes and he wanted to fix it. I was thinking, how could I take that template and apply it here?
I came up with the idea and reached out to Laundry Love, a company that helps groups team up with laundromats and ended up partnering with Chatham Laundry on the Southside. We connected with the owner, Sue, and explained that I wanted to help out families and give them an opportunity to clean their clothes for free.”
How can families participate?
“Every third Thursday of the month from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., anyone who needs it can wash and dry up to three loads for free. There’s a pre-registration sign up sheet. Laundry detergent and supplies are donated from Earth Breeze and I get support staff from NYAP.
It’s a community hang out. At the laundromat, people come and converse, it’s like a barbershop. And in the summer months when the kids are out of school, we have entertainment for them. The mission from the beginning was to create a resource for families in need. I’m mad grateful that the community is embracing it.”
What are your goals for the future?
“We are in the process of setting up a public donation page and figuring out what’s the proper business structure for this, so setting up the nonprofit potentially. This is the year to figure that out. I can see a future in it. My dream for this would be to have my own laundromat and see how I could be of service for families of low to no income. Figuring out a situation where I could grow this into a vehicle where it could be bigger than once a month. That’s the goal–building institutions to give people the power to alter their own narratives and have some ownership.”
Fast Talk with Desmond Owusu
Do you have a mantra?
“Right now, when my oldest daughter Indigo Moon gets frustrated I have a little dadism: it’s okay to pause, but don’t give up.”
What’s your favorite album to listen to as a family?
“My house is full of girls, so Willow’s most recent album, ‘Empathogen’. It’s really dope.”
Sport you played as a kid?
“I played basketball and ran track.”
Favorite meal to cook as a family?
“My partner Imani does her own version of taco Tuesday and that’s the best. She’s great at cooking, so she can do it all.”
Best day out in Chicago with the family?
“We love Chinatown!”
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