June 27th, 2020
12:15PM
The past month has been nothing but pain and suffering for many people including myself. I’m not black, but a lot of my friends are. Without our bonds, without trends from their culture, and without their lineages’ contributions towards America, we all wouldn’t be where we are today. My heart goes out to the entire black community because nobody deserves such injustice. Honestly, I don’t even know if there’s a word to describe how horrible these acts are. And to know that these monsters, who are supposed to serve and protect, aren’t getting punished to the same degrees of their actions is just infuriating and unbelievable to say the least.
I can go on and on about this topic, but I urge readers to take action somehow. You can donate to funds that support the Black Lives Matter movement one way or another, educate yourself through an array of assorted media, and have open conversations with your close friends and family. No action is too small. Just think about it in their shoes. Personally, asides from spreading awareness through my platforms and making donations, I’ve participated in protests. New York City has been a city with so much momentum for this movement and I’m so proud. It’s empowering and powerful to march and protest alongside others who believe in what’s right. And I march knowing how dangerous it may be. However, I’ve never felt so inclined to need to go out as a photographer, and a human being and show my support.
I shared my latest set of photos on Instagram, dedicating it to #BLM. I wanted to showcase not only the unity in Black beauty, but also my support for my brothers and sisters. I picked up on the Vogue challenge, but I wanted to make it my own and put a spin on it. Everybody was part of this fight for freedom. I collaged together 9 shots, and overlaid a black fist over it. This was a symbol that’s generally associated with Black nationalism and was widely popularized due to the Black Panther Party’s usage in the 1960s.
Then my friend, Kemi, reached out to me. She wanted to shoot with me because she admired my last set on Instagram, and never had the opportunity to shoot with me yet. I was happy to do it complimentary too, especially to support Black creatives! It’s been a while since I’ve last seen Kemi, and we’ve only had a couple of interactions through bumping into one another at dance classes (not literally haha). I thought it’d be a really great idea to hang out a bit, shoot a set, and to also have her featured in this latest blog post. She was down! Plus after 3.5 months of not having an outdoor portrait shoot, due to social distancing, I was slowly starting to get more comfortable. In fact, the last shoot I had was for my March project.
It turns out that she lives in Queens, just like me. From there we decided to meet somewhere convenient for the both of us. What better place than to just meet in the middle - Jamaica, Queens. Whenever I commuted to school or work, I always passed through this neighborhood and it always had its aesthetic. I never got to do a shoot here though because just about all my friends were out in the city, or Brooklyn, or somewhere that just wasn’t in deep Queens.
I wanted to learn more about where she was coming from and how I could be more empathetic towards the situation. I wanted to be a friend. It was a really open conversation between us, but here’s a little bit of how it went throughout the day.
“Are you okay?”
“Right now I feel a lot better. But towards the beginning of everything, I was so angry. I saw a lot of red and everyday I felt so upset from all the videos that were being shared on social media along with the tensions from protests. When I realized how much it was consuming me, I needed to just unplug from social media for a few days. I also didn't want to see constant reminders of the gruesome deaths at the hands of police brutality.”
“What ethnicity are you and where did you grow up? How was that like for you?”
“I’m Nigerian & West Indian. My father was born in Brooklyn, but he was raised in Nigeria for the majority of his childhood before coming back to New York. My mother was born and raised in St. Thomas and then came to New York after. I moved from Queens to Elmont, and then from there to Valley Stream in Long Island. I thought elementary school was fine. However high school, from 7th to 12th grade, felt different. I didn’t feel comfortable because I didn’t feel as though I fit in. My highschool was predominantly white, so I was introduced to different lifestyles that I wasn’t used to. Once I got to college and befriended people from the black community there, it was a shock back into my culture again.”
“How do you feel about people on social media speaking out about the BLM movement?”
"I think everyone puts a lot of pressure on each other to have to say something about it. If you don’t say the politically correct answer, everyone’s so quick to “cancel” or belittle you. Don’t get me wrong; everyone should care & have a moral compass to want to help fight for basic humanity. But realistically, not everyone does and humans tend to only care when it affects them directly. Forcing people to use their platforms to speak on these issues isn’t any better to me because you can tell it’s performative and forced. I don’t care to hear an opinion or statement if it isn’t authentic. BLM is slowly moving from a heartfelt cause with good intentions to a trend that can be memed. It’s not cool. Whatever you decide to do, just make sure it’s authentic to YOU - whether you speak out on the racial injustices or don’t (there are consequences for each). And I can't believe how desensitized we've become reposting and resharing videos that were the catalysts to this whole movement. Technology makes it so accessible to film and share these traumatic final moments. It's good and bad. I can't bear to watch anymore. I don’t need a video to know the truth of my reality. The ending never changes. It’s like rereading the same book & expecting a different ending.”
“Have you and your friends had conversations about this?”
“I‘ve spoken to friends, mutuals, and co-workers about these conversations. My friends pretty much felt the same, but my co-workers were on the opposing side. They supported Black & “Blue” Lives, which I feel is contradictory & nullifies the whole movement. I found that those in my age group had similar perspectives & understood the importance & goals of this revolutionary moment while those who are older lack knowledge, accurate information, or simply do not care since they’re not directly affected. It’s so important and enlightening to hear everyone’s perspectives. We even delivered over 500 care packages with supplies to protestors fighting for the BLM movement.”
“What's one thing you really hope to see come out of all these protests?”
“It’s interesting because I asked my friends the same thing, “What does the end of this whole movement look like? When it ends, what will be the new reality?” I think besides redistributing, funding, and revamping the requirements for police training, non-POC will no longer be able to turn a blind eye to our racial injustices and can no longer use the excuse “ignorance is bliss.” The movement is happening all around them and is infiltrating their lives. If they don’t understand, then they simply don’t want to at this point.”
“For those who read about your perspective, how else can they help?”
“I would say whatever you choose to do, make sure it’s authentic to YOU. Whether your strengths are on the frontlines protesting, behind the scenes organizing, monetary contributing, stimulating these tough conversations, or creating art for awareness, these are all different avenues to help fight for the same cause. Don’t let anyone guilt or shame you if your avenue isn’t the same as theirs. Definitely research local black organizations, businesses, communities, etc to support. Social media can be a valuable resource too. Just make sure to always fact check and verify the info you’re receiving.”
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Thank you so much to Kemi for allowing me to share her thoughts on what all this means to her. I’m grateful for her friendship and for allowing me to grow by learning and educating others through her experiencing living through this. We can’t emphasize this enough. Black Lives Matter.
@kemianne09 - Kemi
@breannamyers - Bre
@isetyourtrends - Trevor
@firstround.pick - Steve
@esosaoviasu - Esosa
@pablohabloo - Pablo
@anouchka.jpg - Anouchka
@jamesdaring - James
@mvc_dre - MacAndré
@imanxyoung - Iman
