Humanitees: Embracing Humanity, One T-Shirt At A Time

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Antonio “Mookie” Hickman is the founder of a minority owned and operated company called Humanitees LLC.

He is an entrepreneur, designer, father and local to the Chattanooga area, who could have taken the wrong road as a child.

“I grew up in the inner city,” he said. “I could have woken up one day and went down the street and joined a gang. It was that easy.”

He did immerse himself in school and excelled in all his classes, but said he kept searching for something that would spark his innate artistic abilities. In the eighth grade he started attending Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts. Hickman said it changed his life.

“It was this huge culture shock,” he said. “I went from an all predominantly black school to a school with every race you can think of.”

Hickman said he was in awe of his fellow classmates who spent hours devoted to their artistic endeavors like ballet, violin, musical theater and art. He admits it took him a while to find a sense of balance between his life, back at home, and a whole new world he found at CCA.

He said the experience made him realize, despite outward appearances, every person was worthy of acceptance and love.

His creativity thrived. From 2014 until 2018 he had his own line of clothing called Trippy Hippie Clothing.

“It was all peace and love,” he said. “If we put more love into the world, this place would be so much better. That’s what is missing in the world.”

Not too long-ago Hickman became friends with Josh, who already owned a screen print shop. The two started serious discussions about opening a business together.

“We built a good relationship,” he said. “I was working on the road at the time and when I would come home, I would come to the shop. I ended up renting out a little table in here, bought my first little machine. So, whenever I was home, I would print my own stuff. I wanted to learn because I knew nothing about it.”

Hickman said Josh began to teach him and the two decided they would open their shop, naming it Humanitees LLC.

“We're all one race, we're the human race,” he said.

“Humans and T-shirts,” he said explaining how they came up with the name. “It’s natural for things to pop in my head and make sense like this. So, Humanitees - I just hit me, that's it’s – humans in T-shirts - Humanitees. It was just the perfect thing.  “We’re doing this for humanity. We’re doing this for the whole.”

Hickman said Josh loved the name. He recalled they spent several hours on January 7, 2019, talking about their plans.

Tragically, Hickman received a call the next morning. Josh had committed suicide.

“No one saw that coming,” he said. “He was one of those guys who wore his heart on his sleeve.”

Hickman said he and Josh advocated for mental health. He said they often spent hours helping each other through their ups and downs. He said the night before the incident Josh was in a great mood and excited about their new business.

“He was happy,” he said. “He had found his mojo again.”

The tragedy left Hickman wondering what would happen next. Josh’s father let Hickman keep the shop, but he needed some time to clear his head. Hickman went back out on the road for work.

“I left on my birthday February the 25th,” he said. “It was a thirty-day job in Illinois.”

While away, Hickman realized he wanted to carry on with the business they had planned together, so he could honor Josh.

“I watched You Tube videos about screen printing for those 30 days,” he said. “I was working as a machine operator, so I just need to make sure the machine was running well. I worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week and also watched You Tube videos. I came back home, and I locked myself in the shop for like a week. I painted and I was determined to keep going with what we had planned to do.”

Humanitees, LLC became a reality.

“And I haven't left this place since February 2019,” he said. 

Humanitees offers screen printing, embroidery and design service. No order is too small or too large and designs are not restricted to just T- shirts.

“Everything apparel, from head to toe,” Hickman said.

Hickman has some corporate customers, but he said he will always offer his assistance to anyone who needs help designing a shirt, sock, hat or any other apparel they may need.

Hickman started learning more about owning and running a business from workshops offered by the Urban League of Chattanooga and other local resources. He learned about profit margins, income and expenses, marketing and social media. He said he feels better suited in running the company these days and now he is looking to help and mentor other artists.

“It's been a journey and it’s been fun,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of great people, and I’ve opened this space up to so many creators in the city. We also have mental health talks in here and this has become the mecca for creative individuals in Chattanooga.”

Hickman’s next goal is to introduce screen printing and embroidery as curriculum at public schools.

“So, kids can still have that creative mindset but also have job stability at the same time,” he said. “To be able to create stuff for people. I could then hire three graduates for two years to usher and mentor the workforce so in the future they can run the business.”

Hickman oversees the operations at the company. He has an embroidery expert named Frank; a graphic designer named Nate who has more than a decade of experience in digital art creation. Andre is their application expert with 20 years in the garment decorating industry.

Hickman’s long-term goal is to build generational wealth for his team’s families and communities. He’d like to build an inclusive environment for creatives, entrepreneurs, and all people to build their own dreams, all while simultaneously creating valuable art, designs and products for his customers.

“We are consistently working towards environmental balance, social awareness and giving back through mentorship, education and resource distribution,” he said.

Humanitees LLC