Entry · catalog no. 9213
dashiki
/ /dəˈʃiki/ /duh-SHEE-kee
noun · Harlem, New York (1967) · 1960s
✓ Verified
1.
A loose, colourful pullover shirt with an African-style print and a V-shaped neckline, worn as a symbol of African heritage and Black pride.
“He wore a dashiki to the rally.”
Origin & Attribution
The word comes from the Yoruba danshiki, itself from the Hausa dan ciki, meaning a shirt or inner garment. The earliest printed US use cited is in the Amsterdam News (22 July 1967), and Faith Berry wrote about it in The New York Times Magazine (7 July 1968). New Breed of Harlem was the first US maker. The dashiki appeared in the films Uptight (1968) and Putney Swope (1969) and on Soul Train (1971). In 1969 Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party argued that political power does not come from the sleeve of a dashiki, warning against wearing it as a substitute for action.
1967
Amsterdam News prints 'danshiki'
1968
New York Times Magazine feature; film Uptight
1971
Soul Train features the garment
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Harlem, New York (1967) · 1960s
Spoken by
Black Americans; Black Power activists
$DASHIKThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady59 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
40/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1967
in the culture
Recorded here
2026
point of first record
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Amsterdam News (22 July 1967), as cited by Wikipedia, 'Dashiki'; secondary
web
■
+ Cite a sourceFaith Berry, New York Times Magazine (7 July 1968), as cited by Wikipedia; secondary
web
See also