beauty is my weapon :: An origin story
I grew up in my grandma’s three-bedroom apartment in Lillian Wald Houses on 6th Street & Avenue D - LES, NYC.
It was my grandma, my titi Kathy, my titi Daisy, my mom & me on most days, plus whoever else needed a place to crash here and there. My favorite memories are of me, my mom & my titi Kathy sharing a twin sized bed like sardines - me laying in the middle of the two of them, sleeping with my head by their feet. Space was limited and there was no such thing as privacy, so I imagine that times were tough for the women in that space. Still, I remember a heavy focus on the love that we shared, because in a place so small with dreams as big as we all had, there wasn’t much room for anything else.
The women who raised me plus a woman they raised - my cousin Stephanie in a purple floral dress.
I learned everything I know now from these women. My titi Kathy was my favorite at the time because she was the youngest, so I saw her as a big sister & the most powerful person on the planet. I wanted her hoop earrings, her outfits, and the swagger she wielded when wearing them that made every man fall at her feet.
My Titi Kathy admiring her weapon.
She got what she wanted. She was powerful. I would walk the streets with her & her friends and learned to feel safest with women who pumped the streets with sexuality. No man would ever hurt them because it would get in the way of their ability to obtain them & no woman would dare do anything to them because they were trying to figure out how they could be them.
My Titi Kathy on the right & one of her friends in the middle. Zoom into her necklace to learn her name.
Beauty was their weapon & where we grew up, if you did not have a weapon, you would have become the victim of someone else’s. I want the art I create to arm the person wielding it with the power I saw in the women who raised me. I want to arm the people wearing my clothes with the power of beauty, just in case they are having a hard time feeling it inside themselves. It’s important for me to remind people that, as evolved individuals, we no longer have to fight our battles by causing physical harm to others. There is magic in presence. To simply allow others to experience your beauty & get what you want just by being yourself is true power.
Beauty is My Weapon - Beauty is OUR Weapon.
