Photo by Richard Koek

I make art. Write. Curate. I’m Black. Queer. In recovery. A non traditional student at Columbia University, getting a degree in African American Studies. I’m hopeful sometimes. Overwhelmed sometimes. Angry a lot these days and trying to figure out the balance between self-care and burying my head in the sand. Josephine Baker and James Baldwin gave me hope. I love Paris. I love my mother more than you could ever imagine. I’m a Gemini which means though I meditate often, I’ll sometimes drink a Red Bull immediately afterwards. I’m quiet-ish though not afraid to speak up about things I’m passionate about, especially injustice. I love family - born and created. I can use big words, yet I also unapologetically swear with abandon. Most importantly, I no longer see my existence in this world as a problem.

And every single day, I give thanks to my ancestors

I grew up in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, also the hometown of W.E,B. Du Bois. I was recently listening to Cornel West talk about Du Bois and he said about the town “ that’s about as vanilla as it comes.” He’s right. It’s a pretty affluent and very white place and I’m neither of those things. I was a black kid dealing with being “other” in so many ways and then queer feelings came up and it became even worse.

“ If I could only be [whiter, richer, straighter, etc] I would be happy.”

This was the internal voice behind my smile. Reversing this line of thinking has been at the core of my recovery and creativity - my entire life. I used to think revealing the real me to people would scare them away. I now realize that those are the very things that connect me/us.