On November 11, 1811 an enslaved African by the name of Zebulun King aka King David worked on the Putnam Plantation in Savannah, Ga.

He was credited with Swine Rebellion of 1811. King David, never being satisfied with the conditions of his servitude, devised a plan to use t-shirts to spark a rebellion.

King David would design t-shirts at night using a small piece of charcoal. He would write messages like “You know we ain’t getting paid for this” and “Man, it’s too Hot out here” on his t-shirts and wear them under his slave rags.

Everyday while working in the fields, he expose the message written on his shirt to other slaves. Those who saw would nod their head in agreement and ask how can they get a shirt like that. So every night at his slave quarters he would design t-shirts for the other slaves.

One night these words came to him, “GO TELL MASSA TO KICK ROCKS”. With that inspiration he designed a shirt that said, “Let’s get Free, Meet me by the tree, Bring no Piggy”. He had a picture of pig with a slash through it telling the people not to bring any swine, because he Knew it would only slow them down.

So he wore the shirt and showed every slave on the plantation. Later that night they all devised a plan for the rebellion. The rebellion took place at sundown that following Saturday.

They were able to drug all of the overseers, and Massa’s whole family, including the dogs. One hundred and sixty slaves escaped the Putnam Plantation that night. None were ever captured, none ever returned.

On that Sunday morning when Massa and the overseers awoke, head thumping from the drugs, they looked out into the cotton fields and saw one hundred and sixty scarecrows wearing t-shits that said “Massa, Go Kick Rocks”……