in an age of reflection

Me & my fellow Belles, along w Professor of Psychology Dr. Campbell, Professor of Anthropology & Africana Women's Studies Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson & poet Nikki Giovanni.

https://blogs.nordstrom.com/fashion/inclusive-beauty-with-photographer-ashley-armitage-pop-innordstrom-kbeauty/ Find this photo and the full interview of my dear friend Ashley Armitage's full feminist philosophy behind her work. As a model of color I entirely feel that my work is necessarily undivorced from a kind of activism for womxn & people's of color. Mere existence as a person of color in America has always been an act of revolution, an ode to the radical notion that we deserve to be here. However, exposure in the media as a person of color is downright discursive. It threatens the status quo in a myriad of ways, because injecting a colorFULL presence in a pale context is a counter-hegemonic act. Additionally, Ashley Armitage is a friend of mine, our relationship, in & of itself is revolutionary because I recognize that when she photographs womxn and qtpoc folk of color, she is directing the lenses in our direction due to our marginalized qualities, not despite them. I am so proud to be apart of the legacy of her radical and dainty work. I am blessed to know her as a true comrade in this journey, this el eye eff aye.

By Ashley Armitage for Lazy Oafs (Summer 2016)

By Ashley Armitage Instagram: @Ladyist for Nordstrom KPOP Beauty Line Spring 2017

By Ashley Armitage for Lazy Oafs (Summer 2016)

By Ashley Armitage for Lazy Oafs (Summer 2016)

By Ashley Armitage (2017)

By Ashley Armitage (2017)

These photos are by photographer Earnesto Martinez. Green was once my favorite color. But I'm a northwest baby so the woods are my territory.

Got to meet Nikki Giovanni at the 5the annual Faculty Women of Color Conference. She is such a light ✨💕💓

Photo of me and Claire for the KBeauty Pop-In @ Nordstrom 💕 I've been here for just a couple weeks but v v v glad I caught this before returning home. Taken by my love Ashley Armitage.

"This is what a feminist looks like"

❣️❣️✨ she got a black girl name 🍃💝💕

Another journal fully completed. Gifted me by my bf back in August. No greater feeling than filling it to the brim with my internal dialogue. The noisy mindful chatter which constitutes my days. When I tell you journal writing has saved my life, I mean it. Keeps me accountable, grounded, and true to myself. Is my most cherished activity, is not only parcel to my self-care routine but provides the foundation for what I consider the most accurate form of self-love. We as black women need to remind ourselves of our worth, the world is filled with evidence of how unworthy, unloved we are made out to be. Journal writing helps me make sense of the distortions. This might be my 17th completed journal. I've been keeping them since I was in the 8th grade, though I have scraps of really cute writing as far back as the 4th grade. In fact, my first journal entry, ever, is a v detailed, graphic account of the first boy I ever kissed. Once a hopeless romantic......... "You will come away bruised but this will give you poetry" is a quote from Nayyirah Waheed, the mystical poet.