In your face

Fed up with racism, two Massachusetts friends took action. Now they've got a clothing line, a softball team, and the backing of more than a dozen hardcore bands.

by Sarah McNaught

Zeph Conniff is a force to be reckoned with. At 6' 2" with a shoulder span nearly as wide as he is long, the 26-year-old Springfield forklift operator is an intimidating presence despite his boyishly freckled face.

And Conniff, who has a white mother and a black father, is used to seeing his mixed ethnicity draw stares and even hostility. So when the long-haired white guy came toward him that day at Gold's Gym in 1996, walking slowly and rolling up his sleeve, Conniff was prepared for what he calls yet another "racial occurrence."

But this time it wasn't his race that had drawn the other guy's attention. See, Mike Ficarra, a slim but sturdy musician type with shoulder-length black hair, an even blacker goatee, and handsomely chiseled features, has been a die-hard Oakland Raiders fan "since birth," he says. And when he spotted Conniff's Oakland cap, he had to approach him.

"I didn't know what to think," says Conniff, who chuckles now at the memory. "He didn't say anything at first -- he just held his shoulder out to me and I saw his Raiders tattoo. And we've been talking ever since."

That discovery marked the beginning of a solid friendship. The two men found they had so much in common it was scary, says Conniff. For example, Ficarra worked as a physical therapist at a nursing home; Conniff was also studying to become a physical therapist. But even more important, both hated racism, and they came up with a unique way to get their message out.

In November 1994, a friend of Conniff's had made him a T-shirt that said FUCK RACISM. Shortly after, Conniff started playing around with the language techniques he'd learned to help overcome his dyslexia in grade school and came up with EFÄR (pronounced "F.R."), short for F.U.C.K. Racism; the first word is an acronym that stands for "Find Unity Capture Knowledge." In January 1997, Conniff and Ficarra took their new philosophy to the streets of Springfield, incorporating the slogan into a line of hats, T-shirts, and sweatshirts. And in a little more than a year, their two-man movement has infiltrated schools, television, and the local rock scene. Now, they want to move beyond Western Massachusetts and bring their message to Boston.

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It was as children that both men first encountered racism. For Ficarra, it was hearing his grandmother call a stranger a "nigger" when he was six. And for Conniff, it was being the target of the same slur at the age of seven. "My mom is Irish, and since I was five she prepared me for the harsh reality that I was going to be the target of racism because of my mixed background," explains Conniff. "I guess as I grew older and realized things -- like I couldn't meet my girlfriend's family, or I couldn't go into certain neighborhoods, both black and white -- I realized I had to do something to change the way people saw me."

"Why fight over the wrapping paper when the truth is, you may like what's inside the package?" says Ficarra, 29, expressing EFÄR's philosophy of open-mindedness and acceptance. But these guys are not about linking arms and singing "We Shall Overcome." People who've experienced racism don't have to turn the other cheek, Ficarra says. "It's okay to say, 'Yeah, I'm Hispanic and I'm proud, so quit fuckin' looking at me that way.' "

In fact, the days of passive resistance are over, the two friends believe. Ficarra argues that kids today lean toward aggressive modes of expression, so government-sponsored campaigns against bigotry will fall on deaf ears. "You can't shelter kids anymore," he says. "We are living in an age when people are beating each other up on shows like Jerry Springer, and when . . . violence such as the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. is put out there for even the smallest children to see."

"It's just leveling the playing field," Ficarra says of EFÄR's tactics. "I don't condone violence. But the KKK has their symbols and logos, and now the anti-racists do too -- just as harsh, just as in-your-face, but with a real message."

In-your-face is right. One EFÄR T-shirt features a bathroom scene, with a urinal standing beside a water bubbler. On the wall, a sign reads RACISTS, PLEASE USE OTHER FOUNTAIN -- and an arrow points to the urinal. An "Endangered Species" T-shirt portrays a hooded Klansman alongside bald eagles and California condors. Scheduled to appear soon is a shirt that depicts a group of Native Americans standing at the bow of a ship as Christopher Columbus, bound and gagged, stands at the edge of the plank at spearpoint. That message, says Ficarra, comes from information that he learned from a history professor.

"Do you know that this man [Columbus] not only raped and assaulted Native American women, but it is believed that he chopped the arms off children to test the sharpness of his sword?" asks Ficarra, who has received hate mail and death threats since he teamed up with Conniff. "It pisses me off that we glorify white historic figures who probably weren't worthy of the honor and fail to teach kids in school about important minorities. I mean, Lincoln is held up in high honors for freeing slaves when he didn't want to free them. Meanwhile, people like Rosa Parks get a sentence in a history text. It's bullshit."

That's part of the reason Conniff and Ficarra want to bring their message directly into the schools. They've contacted high schools and colleges throughout Western Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut, asking for a chance to speak to students or at least set up tables for their clothing and literature.

They haven't always been well received. Horizons, a public high school for troubled kids in Chicopee, initially seemed like a promising forum for EFÄR; it has its fair share of white suburban skinheads with KKK patches and swastika tattoos, and a teacher there had approached Conniff to ask if he and Ficarra would speak. This was the ideal group to "scare straight," Conniff explains: "They are young, confused, and extremely impressionable. We could let them see that we, too, have a message, and it better not be fucked with." But the school's administration would not allow them to address students, complaining that they were "too political."

And in central Connecticut, the NAACP quashed their plans to speak at several schools. "They weren't only unreceptive, they were downright defiant," Conniff says. "This time we were told that unless we have a larger organization that sponsors us as a 'legitimate' anti-racism group, we weren't welcome."

Still, the two have spoken at several high schools and set up booths at a few colleges, and students have been very receptive, requesting clothing for friends and asking for additional information. And they've made other inroads as well. More than a dozen Western Massachusetts stores carry their clothing line, and Channel 5 in Connecticut will soon promote the two on an upcoming episode of a weekly show called Smart Talk, which is produced by Catholic priests. "The clergy told us that this cause was given to us as a reason, and that we have a responsibility to see it through," says Ficarra. "Even religious figures are starting to realize that 'Give peace a chance' and 'Mean people suck' just doesn't cut it anymore. 'Fuck you and fuck racism' is our way of saying zero tolerance is the only answer."

EFÄR has also decided to sponsor an all-black national softball team (Ficarra and an EFÄR supporter are the only white members) that will travel nationally to promote the group and raise money for future endeavors.

And perhaps most important of all, the group has won the support of more than a dozen local hardcore rock groups. The band Almost Speechless, for example, signed on when Ficarra went into the Holyoke clothing store Hot Topics and asked front man Gabe Lopez, who works there, whether EFÄR could sell its clothes through the store. "We don't say much when we perform, but we decided to wear EFÄR T-shirts and promote our fans to do the same," Lopez says.

In May, EFÄR will release a compilation CD called Artists Against Ignorance, featuring bands that support the group. So far, 16 groups have contributed songs. Conniff and Ficarra are still accepting CDs from any band interested in their cause, and they're especially interested in spreading the word east of Route 495.

But the CD may not be the only way they bring their message to Boston. A Psychedelic Emporium store in Boston is one of seven branches statewide that sell EFÄR clothes, and Larry Mayes of the Ella Baker House in Dorchester, a community center for teens, is considering bringing Conniff and Ficarra to the streets of Dorchester and Roxbury to spread the word. Mayes is also keen on the idea of piquing kids' interest by developing a music video that will involve the two.

"We've acknowledged for a long time that preaching 'Be nice to each other' falls on deaf ears in this day and age," he says. "And a message like the one EFÄR is spreading may be old in theory but is very new in methodology."

Those methods already seem to be paying off. "We walk down the street now and see our logo everywhere, on people from children to bikers to rednecks," says Ficarra with a laugh. "Now, if that isn't breaking down barriers, then I don't know what is."

One day recently, for example, Ficarra entered another clothing store to peddle the group's message and noticed a man in tattered jeans and a flannel shirt sitting behind the counter. He looked like a "redneck," Ficarra admits -- the very type who might be expected to give him and Conniff trouble. But as Ficarra described EFÄR to the clerk, the flannel-shirted man began to take an interest. "I have to admit that I judged him without knowing him," says Ficarra. "I was just waiting for him to say something sarcastic, and I was gearing up to get into it with him." But instead, the man asked if he could buy a T-shirt. "Now, that's breaking down barriers," Ficarra says. "When you can draw in someone you would normally not even make the effort with."

EFÄR can be reached at (413) 284-1804 or at Ventures, Box 80274, Springfield, MA 01138.

Sarah McNaught can be reached at smcnaught[a]phx.com.