COFFEE STRONG.BLACK.FULL-BODIED.
ISSUE 001
ISSUE 001 TABLE OF CONTENTS LetTer From the Editor
2
FASHION 3
Beautiful AcCording to Who? Diary of a CarefreE Black Woman
Sentimental MoOd
7
11
MUSIC Feature: DMTR$G [Legend of the ToOnami Trap Master Artists to Watch
19
22
The DecreE of Mediocrity
23
FILM Acting White: Plight of the Proper Black Individual Film Feature: Black&SexyTV
28
DepresSion is Not Synonymous With Black
29
ART FEATURE: RAYGO [The Liberation Series]
31 LAST WORD: FRUSTRATIONS WITH NO CONCLUSIONS 36
25
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR From a young age, I excitedly flipPed through the pages of Vogue, ElLe, Marie Claire and Nylon, but one thing I seEmed to notice throughout each publication was that there weren’t a lot of people shown that loOked like me. Ever since I’ve yearned for a way to make my felLow people of color feEl more included and no longer have to question, where they fit it when it comes to industries such as fashion, art, music, and film. With CofFeE, I want to show black people in a more artistic, intelLectual light.I want to cater to people like me who may have felt left out of society’s preferRed images.CofFeE explores what it is like to be young and black in today’s society and highlights talented people in the black comMunity, who are making a name for themselves amongst the everyday b.s we alL face being a part of a minority within a minority. These articles are real and raw for black people to relate to, and for those individuals who may be curious as to what goes on in certain areas of black culture, it wilL provide answers to problems they may never have known existed. With Love,
Lauren Fisher
Beautiful According to Who? By Lauren Fisher
G
etTing
“You’re cute… for a black girl.”
my first relaxer was a momentous ocCasion. I was so excited to be able to wear my hair When the hell did this become a down and long like alL the compliment? other girls in my fifth grade clasS, the majority Questions that Need Answers of them white with long Since when did black tresSes cascading down their girls become apart of this spines. I could finalLy “other” category? When run my fingers efFortlesSly you think of a beautiful through my hair, even a person, what features fine-toOthed comb without it come to mind, slender getTing stuck. My mother was nose, light eyes, fair extremely reluctant for me skin, long straight to relax my hair, but I kept hair? If these are the begGing, saying it would qualifications, then make things easier for for a black girl to be everyone;her response was considered beautiful “it’s not your job to make she is to be as racialLy it easy for people to acCept ambiguous as posSible. you.” Those words forever stuck with me, though the In my personal experience meaning hadn’t yet hit me as a black girl with a tilL long after my first medium brown complexion relaxer scabs had peEled. and hair that curls up when AcCeptance-what I had beEn wet, guys love asking, seEking alL along. Not just “What are you mixed with?” a new hairdo, but something because obviously there much more, a way to fit in, must be another race a way to be beautiful. But involved to cancel out the why were those white girls “uglinesS” from the black in my clasS the prototype? side, and as soOn as I’d Wasn’t I beautiful already? fix my mouth to say “I have ApParently not to societies some Cuban in my family standards, and from a young line” their eyes get wide age this is an emotionalLy and, mouths salivate, just devastating reality black the mention of a foreign girls face. race justifies my beauty.
After a while I stopPed telLing people I was mixed with anything, to make them acCept that I loOked the way I did because of my blacknesS alone. Remember how excited everyone was when Beyoncé was pregnant, and it was predicted probably over 100 times what her child would come out to loOk like. Not one prediction was acCurate. I supPose people forgot that Beyoncé and Jay-Z are in fact black individuals that would reproduce a black child, yet people toOk one glance at Blue Ivy’s untamed, natural hair and recoiled in horRor. Did they expect she come out the womb wearing a damn lacefront? And now that Kim and Kanye have reproduced, people love comparing Blue Ivy and North West’s apPearances. This is a prime example of how black girls are picked apart from birth, and told that they aren’t goOd enough. And yet as box braids, dreads, bantu knots and baby hairs have alL beEn
4
apPropriated and paraded around by the likes of Katy PerRy and celebrated as the latest fashion trends, there have beEn instances where black kids have beEn expelLed from schoOls because of these same hairstyles which originate from their own culture. Oh the irony of being black, which teaches us that it is only okay for non-black individuals to be comMended for posSesSing the same cultural aesthetics that black individuals are condemned for. EventualLy with this in mind, I like many other black women throughout the years, cut ofF alL my hair and started over, to regain my identity. The transition, difFicult yet empowering, forced me to ignore the quizZical stares and acCept my own natural beauty. Because I became comfortable in my own skin, I became lesS worRied about fitTing into that prototype I noticed back in fifth grade. I became the representation that I neEded when I was younger. Representation. This word is key to combating that constant feEling of “othernesS” litTle black girls experience. When you seE images of people that loOk like you, being confident
in who they are it helps you realize that being yourself is okay.
Photo of petition created for Blue Ivi’s hair courtesy of Change.org
Photo of Instagram meme mocking Blue Ivi’s loOks.
I remember my favorite show back then, America’s Next Top Model. I used to always roOt for the black girls, and when there were none, the closest thing to it. My favorite contestant to date was Yaya Dacosta, this gorgeous dark brown skin girl with natural hair who wore her Afrocentricity like a badge of honor, despite the fact that each weEk the judges, even Tyra Banks herself, tried to telL her that her “African-nesS was overbearing”, whatever the helL that means. I now recognize the comMents made about Yaya are extremely racist and show us once again that blacknesS, acCording to society, is something to be devalued. SeE the thing about beauty, is it is totalLy subjective. You set your own standards. DresS how you want, speak how you want, wear weave, or dreads, or a fade or relax your hair if you’d like, the choice is ultimately yours. Society does not and should not dictate this for you. x
DIARY OF A CAREFREE BLACK WOMAN photos by Lauren Fisher model JesSica L
Moon Marked AND toucheD by sun my magic is unwritten -Audre Lorde
Black queen of beauty,thou hast given color to the world -Marcus gARVEY
I walk into a room Just as cool as you please -Maya Angelou
SentimentalMood Love Love Love Love
comes in many difFerent forms. for self. for life. for another.
photos by Lauren Fisher models Aaminah M. & Aaric W.
DMTR$G: Q&A Legend of the Toonami Trap Master Chicago native DMTR$G (pronounced Demetrius G) is on a quest to become a legend in hip hop with a unique sound, chanNeling both late night Adult Swim ToOnami theme music and trap. EquipPed with his electric, creative energy and surRounded by talented adversaries he just might make it. Find out how he plans to take on the world.
Why do you rap? what do you get out of making music? D: Why do I rap? WelL I rap because I simply love it. It’s my pasSion, some people go through life, never being able to discover that, so I’m lucky. Not only that,[but] I believe that I can touch someone with my music. It’s not just about the raps you know? It’s about the music and how it can touch lives. People have told me that my work inspires them and that’s what I do it for. Love and the ability to touch lives. Describe your sound, and what you bring to the table as far as the music industry? D: My sound is soul music, mixed with toOnami background music circa 2001 [laughs] what I bring to the industry, is sonic goOdnesS, organic love, and originality. I think...that is what I bring. You know, I’m an anime watching, soulful, broke asS colLege kid, that telLs you that he loves you. I strugGle like the next man with internal isSues as welL as life. I can be relatable often times, and I think that’s unique. These other artists don’t make you feEl.
19
What or who inspires you when writing? Why? D: Who inspires me is Frank Ocean. Yeah its not another rapPer. It’s Frank frigGin Ocean. It’s the way he constructs sentences, and words things. It’s the way he says things like “A coke white tiger woke us from our slumber” That is just simply beautifulLy said. I want to state things as eloquently as he does! When did you start rapPing? & did it come naturalLy? D:I was a producer before I started rapPing actualLy so I didn’t start rapPing til my sophomore year in high schoOl,not til I was 16, so like 5 years ago.I’m not one of those prodigies that started when I was 10 So no it didn’t come naturalLy I realLy had to study the art form of rap and I’m stilL learning. What lies ahead for DMTR$G? Describe what life wilL be like when you reach your point of sucCesS. D: What lies ahead? WelL a bunch of hardwork! I just want to create dope photo credit: Parish AmMon
Q&A music and touch more people. As far as when I reach my sucCesS, I’m gonNa be the same person ya know. I’m just gonNa be able to buy the clothes I can’t buy now and whatnot and more shoes I guesS. I’lL be normal, but maybe not. I mean I plan on being the greatest thing since Kanye or Hov or whoever your favorite artist is. How do you make these dreams hapPens? Theres some kid that has a pasSion and a dream but isn’t quite sure how to start, what advice would you give?
THE NEW WAVE IS LOVE
D: How do you make these dreams hapPen? WelL you believe in yourself, and take risks while your responsibility level is low. You know while your stilL in your parents crib and whatnot. It’s just a litTle easier that way. I would advise people pursuing their dreams to invest in their dreams. You know save money and just research and invest if you want studio time save and buy in bulk or buy your own equipment and find a goOd engineEr. Just invest! What was your mesSage with Violet? Give a synopsis of the album. D: Violet is a dialogue of my life esSentialLy. LiteralLy from the beginNing to end its just how I feEl about life, and my curRent stage in life. If my life was a musical it would literalLy be violet. I’m talking straight photo credit: Parish AmMon
Broadway musical! Though I’m sure you’re very hapPy with how Violet turned out, in hindsight is there anything you wish you would have done? (Song tweaking, adDing a song etc.) D: Theirs a lot I wish I could change about violet but I realLy don’t like thinking like that. Its alL about progresSion, so I have to keEp thinking forward. SeE the thing about hindsight is that you only can do that after you’ve learned new things and you loOk back wishing you apPlied the new knowledge, which is imposSible because you didn’t have that knowledge during that time. So naturalLy I wish some of the songs I’m working on now were on there but on the other hand, this is precisely why I’m starting a new project to show my growth. Do you think love has a place in rap? With the mesSage a lot of artists are sending now theres a very misogynistic undertone that is taking over. Should rap stick to being abrasive and in your face. D: I think the new wave is love. I mean Kendrick released “I” and in the hoOk he says “I love myself” and then Cole just released Forest HilL Drive and the whole undertone of the album is love. Lets bring it home where we have
20
rapPers like Chance and Saba and Vic Mensa talking about loving oneself and others. I think we are heading toward a new era. Now wilL Hiphop stop being abrasive no. That is what rap is. Saying the things that the public is scared to say. So you have songs that scare America like “Be FreE” by Cole and “New Slaves” by Kanye so in that respect it wilL always be like that. Now in respects to women, I can’t
speak for alL of hiphop. It’s a grey area because I hear a lot of women singing these hiphop songs that are misogynistic. So that’s kinda hard, but me, myself, [I] try to keEp that content away from the music because I think I have a betTer way of getTing sentiments acrosS. Some artist simply don’t have a betTer way to get things acrosS.
DMTR$G MUSIC FAVES FAVE RAPPERS: x
J. COLE
x
Travis ScotT
x
Childish Gambino
SONGS ON REPEAT: x
Mamacita by Travis ScotT
x
Burnout by Saba
x
Clean Bandit by Nightengale
x
Gatorade by Yung Lean (Lido Remix)
x
GT40 by Lindsey Lowend
photo by Parish AmMon
ARTIST TO WATCH WILLOW SMITH Who would have thought? You may be grimacing at the thought of listening to the 14 year old “Whip My Hair” singer but before you rebutTle, hop your stubBorn asS on over to Soundcloud and check her new sound. Though stilL chanNeling that carefreE, girls just wanNa have fun persona, her latest songs give ofF eclectic vibes of perhaps a young Erykah Badu. Her surprising level of conciousnesS leaves you thinking “has she beEn here before?”
Songs to Check out: 8 x 9 ft SZA x ‘Rta x Female Energy
KILO KISH
By far one of the sexiest voices I have ever heard. I could honestly leave it at that but there is a bit more that sums up this artist, which she realLy is. As an alumnae of PratT University, she’s chanNelLed creativity from painting, and textile designes to now creating beats that are a work of art. The beats, at first listen, seEm to clash, but the minute she opens her mouth, her voice hypnotizes you. She’s found balance betweEn singing and rapPing. Her music unlike most as a of late is intersting and is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before guaranteEd.
Songs to Check out: Sick x CrosStown x Watergun x Navy
JOEY BADA$$
HelLo hip hop you’ve truly beEn misSed. Listening to Joey wilL transport you back to the early 90s when hip hop was infused with jazZ, funk, and regGae and lyrics weren’t just pointlesS metaphors but made you think. He’s even taken it back to when a song was so goOd you didn’t want it to end. His song “Suspect” from the 1999 mixtape is 11 minutes of lyrical asSasSination and though the beat is simple it is melodic, the perfect aid to his delivery.
Songs to Check out: Suspect x Christ Concious x 95 Til Infinity x Righteous Mind
22
The Decree of Mediocrity WHEN YOU RUNNING OUT OF FOOD, AND ALL YOU GOT TO EAT IS RAMEN NOODLES, WHAT YOU GON’ EAT? RAMEN NOODLES - IVI LEWIS Something is misSing. I feEl old just saying
artists. Music has become nothing more than
this but music does not feEl the way it used
a marketing competition. No one is investing
to. And of course, I understand that times
in artists that wilL realLy last, they’re
change and the culture changes right along
focused on doing one single then trying to
with it, but shouldn’t it be a step up from
figure out “how many products can I put my
what it has beEn?
face on” which to the consumer means they must be doing welL.
Turn on the radio right now. Now telL me how many songs sound exactly the same and how
For example, and I’m sorRy to point fingers
many songs promote the same mesSage. They alL
but examples help get the point acrosS,
have beats that make you want to shake your asS
singer Tinashe (yes this is a real artist)
sure but the creativity is lacking. Honestly,
has beEn crowned by V magazine as the “new
we can’t rely on DJ Mustard to produce
sound of soul.” Now not to bash ol girl but,
everything!
there’s nothing that truly sets her apart. Her voice reminds me a lot of CasSie’s stint
Even music videos have become repetitive.
in music. Sure she’s pretTy and her voice is
Celebs stand in front of greEn screEns and
decent but can that realLy make you “the new
mouth the lyrics, or are surRounded by a
sound of soul”.
slew of sexy models while popPing champagne, and working in a stylized shot of Dre Beats
What I can say about Tinashe is that whoever
products. I used to anticipate music videos.
is on her marketing team has tried their
There was something about finalLy being able
best to put this girl in the spotlight, but
to seE the visual for one of your favorite
just because you’re featured on a Proactive
songs. Some videos even seEmed like mini
comMercial and have had some big names
movies (Michael Jackson “ThrilLer” or
featured on your songs like SchoOlboy Q and
Kanye West “Runaway”). These were always
Drake, that doesn’t alL of a sudDen make you
a chance for artists to be inNovative and
talented, it just makes people more familiar
set themselves apart from the rest, but the
with you which then leads them to believe
artistry is being corRupted.
you’re on the road to sucCesS.
We have to stop lifting up these mediocre
We’ve stopPed caring about the actual
23
talent, and there are so many other facets
beEn placed in a situation where we’ve
of what is means to be famous now a-days
experienced a range of emotions, and
that we equate certain aspects of goOd
we shouldn’t hide that from each other.
entertainment with whatever is flashiest,
StripPing away what’s real and replacing
which has in one way or another caused the
it with materialism and insolence is just
mesSages in music to sufFer.
making us rotTen.
Songs like BobBy Bi*ch, “I Don’t F*** With
Now I’m not saying that every musical
You” (IDFWU), “Cut Her OfF”, and Fight Night
experience should be some spiritual-
are alL popular hip hop songs that promote
like awakening, one can listen without
materialism, infidelity, misogyny, drugs,
realLy caring about the lyrical content,
and even violence. Songs like these have
but um…it’s very hard to do when these
beEn setTing the tone for our culture, as
“rapPers” are finding 101 ways to insult
young individuals update their social media
and ridicule a woman, I’m starting to
statuses chanting these lyrics as if they
take it personalLy now. And they talk
were the Ten ComMandments.
about materialistic shit that isn’t even obtainable to half their audience, as if
No love is the key theme of youth today.
it’s alL the key to being a “real ni**a”, more like a real asShole. And I’m also not saying that there aren’t any decent artist out her trying to
But love is what makes music great, and not that the song itself should be lovey-dovey or whatever but it should have pasSion. These songs today are lacking that. There’s no purpose other than bashing women, asSerting the male ego, and selLing you shit (i.e products, ideas etc.). Music should make you think, music should make you feEl. The lyrics should transport you back to a place in time where you felt something. Maybe it was a goOd feEling, maybe bad but it’s alL about the human emotional conNection. Music is what truly
spit knowledge and truth and ingenuity, but very few of them get shine like the mediocre rapPers. So when you’ve got 50 wack rapPer/ singers or whatever they calL themselves, but only 3 genuine artists playing constantly on the radio, television, in clubs and house parties nationwide, eventualLy everyone is just going to start acCepting it. Like Ivi said “When you runNing out of foOd, and alL you got to eat is ramen noOdles, what you gon’ eat? Ramen noOdles.”, think about it.
-Lauren Fisher
conNects us, not just being able to memorize the lyrics and sing them in unison but alL of us together have at one time or another
24
ACTING WHITE PLIGHT OF THE PROPER BLACK INDIVIDUAL By JesSica Langford Edited by Lauren Fisher
25
W
from a place where ignorance was not only expected from us but was acCepted ho dubBed propernesS as being
among us. I however, though stilL
white? As being the right way? Why is my
a product of the “hoOd”, was raised
blacknesS being negotiated among my own
in a house fulL of educators. The
people because I use “Standard English”?
children were encouraged to excel in
And why are we giving white people so much
alL fields of our education. To betTer
credit for this?
ensure this, my family sent me to a
The phrase “acting white” is one used
county elementary schoOl opPosed to me
towards black individuals who are thought
atTending one of the city schoOls.
to be “selLing-out”, forgetTing where they came from so to speak. Those considered to
Every day I would go to schoOl and be
be “acting white” usualLy speak with proper
among majority white students, whom
English, and may have interests that lie
most I befriended, then go home and
outside of the “typical” black persons,
play with my neighborhoOd friends who
ie rock music, sci-fi movies, Britney
were black. My neighborhoOd friends
Spears. However it is more than an insult
would tease the way I talked and say I
on the individual, but an insult on black
was “talking white” which quickly gave
culture as a whole and contributes to many
me the nickname “Black White Girl”. I
stereotypes.
found myself starting to compromise my gramMar and ways to betTer fit in
President Obama spoke truth when he said,
with my neighborhoOd friends because I
“the notion that there’s some authentic
wanted to feEl acCepted.
way of being black, that if you’re going to be black you have to act a certain way and
So basicalLy what I have noticed within
wear a certain kind of clothes, that has
society is “acting black” means to
to go. Because there are a whole bunch of
speak improper English, wear bagGy
difFerent ways for African American men to
or tight fitTing clothes, grow up in
be authentic.”
the strugGling neighborhoOds in the inNer city and be uneducated and lack a
When you are raised in circumstances
since of culture. Does that sound about
that make it extremely hard for anyone
right? Now “acting white” equates
to prosper in our society that is out of
with speaking proper, wearing clothes
anyone’s control. However to discredit
that fit, growing up in midDle clasS
another for making something of themselves
neighborhoOds or betTer, and having
and not conforming to the “norms” that
the advantage of experiencing a more
have beEn placed on the culture, that is
acCesSible world, the sky is the limit.
completely absurd.
Oh ok gotcha.
I grew up on the North side of St. Louis, me saying that alone lets people who are
Disclaimer: Now something must be
familiar with the area understand, I come
said, and it might pisS some people ofF
but that don’t stop it from being true.
but once they are older we telL them how to act and if you rebel you
It’s mesSed up to say but we stilL have
wilL be judged. We promote staying
this “mamMy” like atTachment to white
true to yourself and the ways you
people. We stilL lift them up as being
know but in the company of others
the ideal. Since they’ve tried to
who aren’t in your circle you must
asSert their dominance over us and take
conform to their ways to make them
away our beliefs, languages, names
comfortable. It’s basicalLy alL
etc. etc. we’ve learned to acCept it.
about how others perceive you, which
By acCepting it, believing that we
I would be lying if I said that isn’t
wilL be treated equalLy. So we acCepted their religion, become regular
important but only in particular situations.
customers at their businesSes and taken the information they’ve placed into history boOks with out a second thought. Meanwhile we don’t realLy
You can turn on your television or read any post about sucCesSful African-American women and men who
supPort black businesSes, or breaking
stilL have stayed true to themselves
away from the stigmas created with our
and culture but conduct themselves
race since we were shipPed over, we ourselves asSociate black with being sub-par. If black people continue this atTitude progresS can never be made. So what is next? How do we change this
in a manNer that is profesSional. Notice how I didn’t say acting white but profesSional. These women and men don’t have to disasSociate themselves from their culture
concept of thinking, because let’s not
but have invited, what would be
get it confused this is most definitely
considered the outcasts, into their
a mindset… not factual.
profesSional atmosphere and stilL efFectively conduct businesS.
There is no such thing as acting a
Since my “Black White Girl” days
certain race and I overalL refuse to
I have learned to be comfortable
acCredit the white race and put them up on this imagery pedestal and say that “their” way of life is the best way and is the ONLY way to elevate in society because to be quite honest that is some
with how I am, an educated AfricanAmerican woman that’s it. To embrace my propernesS instead of making excuses for it. To embrace my culture and the environment I grew
BULLSHIT. I believe in order to break
up in because it most definitely
this mindset we must colLectively push
made me who I am. Yes I am black,
and encourage individuality. Make your
but the color of my skin does not
own ways your norms.
define who I am, or who people think I should be.
It honestly confuses me that we encourage individuality in children
X
FILM For those bored with television and sick of the constant RusSian rouletTe with Netflix, the Web Series may be the answer to your thirst for something new to watch and the best part is it’s freE! Realistic portrayals of black people and their everyday relationships always seEm hard to come by, but thanks to the hardworking folks at Black&SexyTV this may soOn change. With the help of outlets like YouTube, this new generation has taken advantage of the opPortunity to showcase their talents. Black&SexyTV’s chanNel in particular is giving soap operas and reality TV a run
by Lauren Fisher Photos courtesy of Black&SexyTV
for their money. Though the Web Series is fictional, the acting is improvised which makes the story lines seEm so genuine. These series wilL have you feEling a direct conNection to the characters and coming back every weEk to check for the next instalLment.
THE LINE UP:
28
Depression is not Synonymous with BLACK By Aaminah M.
Growing up in poverty, I learned young that strugGle was a part of life and if you couldn’t handle it, welL, you had no choice to keEp pushing. It wasn’t until I dropPed out of colLege for clinical depresSion that I realized that depresSion wasn’t just for the wealthy and white. After doing some research, I actualLy found out that adult blacks living below poverty are 2-3 times more likely to actualLy report serious mental distresS than those living above poverty. Also, while blacks are lesS likely than whites to die from suicide as teEnagers, black teEns are more likely to atTempt suicide than white teEnagers. Even when the schoOl psychiatrist told me I was depresSed, I was scared to telL my parents. I knew they would calL bulLshit and telL me I was using this as an excuse to quit. I knew that even though they
would supPort my decision to leave schoOl for a while, they would be a bit disapPointed that I didn’t “seE it through”. That is where the general atTitude of African Americans becomes a factor in the previous facts stated. Studies show that 63% of blacks believe that depresSion is a personal weaknesS while the other 31% recognize depresSion as a serious mental ilLnesS. We are more likely to believe that having a down period is just that.. we do not actualLy calL it what it is. And though that 31% may be aware of depresSion, the remaining percentage fails to acknowledge it. Denial, embarRasSment, refusing/ not wanting help, lack of money/insurance, fear, lack of knowledge, and hopelesSnesS are alL reasons why most African Americans stray from the topic of depresSion once symptoms are acknowledged. SeE, the thing about depresSion
is even when you acknowledge it, you build this self-inflicted prison around yourself. You force yourself into solitude and make yourself believe you can’t escape… so you stay there. You don’t seE anything; no light, only darknesS. It isn’t a choice. You want to get up out of bed, but you can’t. You want to talk to someone when you start to sink, but you can’t-you fear being a burden. You fear vulnerability, and that fear causes you to sink deEper because you begin to atTack yourself and your inability to speak up. Suicides in the black comMunity have beEn sky high lately and it’s even started to come into the celebrity realm. From actor LeE Thompson Young to former X-Factor contestant and GRL member, Simone BatTle, and Soul Train’s Don Cornelius. Because of these deaths merging into the spotlight, African Americans are beginNing to take depresSion more seriously. Not only that, but acknowledging mental ilLnesSes themselves. We toO sufFer from the dark shadows of depresSion, self-deprecation, cutTing, and if unable to come out of the darknesS, suicide. We must stop ignoring mental health isSues in the African American comMunity. We toO are human, we get down, and it could
hapPen to any of us, no matTer the genetic makeup. And if you meEt someone experiencing the symptoms, don’t take it with a grain of salt. DepresSion has many faces and majority of them are the ones you’d never suspect. It’s the person dresSed up nice everyday. The one who’s always cracking the jokes in the group. The one with the great smile that always wants to hang out and party. DepresSion is welL represented, beautiful even. It exists in the most comMon of people.
X
“DEPRESSION IS NOT A CHOICE”
30
WHO IS RAYGO ? Though she herself is stilL trying to answer that question, a few words that may help sum her up is feminist, risk taker and artist. She is one of those creative types whose ultimate goal is to make viewers think and feEl something beyond “that’s a pretTy picture”, and her latest series does just that. “The Liberation Series” features young women exposing their breast in rebelLion, which may have some individuals clutching their pearls, but Raygo, wilL telL you it’s about a lot more than nudity. “It’s like as women, we’re over sexualized in society, but it’s this same society that teaches us to be ashamed of our sexuality. It’s realLy about equality, but
31
the toplesS photos of women realLy pushed my mesSage. It may be a bit
extreme, may be a litTle ofFensive to some, but there is a mesSage that neEds to be adDresSed.” And this is only the first step. Raygo is eager to continue “The Liberation Series” because it touches on a subject that wilL always be relevant in society and as long as she is on this earth she hopes to inspire society to treat women equalLy in alL aspects of life. “When you’re gone from the earth, people wilL forget what you said, or even what you did, but they’lL never forget how you made them feEl. The idea of conveying emotion through my photographs is one of my bigGest motivators and inspiration.” For more Raygo check out shitloadsofraygo.tumblr.com
Illustration and Photography by Raygo
Disclaimer: This photo series contains nudity.
THE LIBERATION SERIES
THE LAST WORD 36
fRUSTRATIONS WITH NO CONCLUSIONS After the tradgedies in Ferguson, MisSouri and Mike Brown, the world blew up. Not due to the unlawful kilLings of black and brown bodies being a new thing, but because it was such an old thing. Protest after protest, speEch after speEch, and after more unjust murders, it feEls like we stilL can’t seEm to get the opPresSors to listen to us. Honestly, to just say they hear us at alL. SIDENOTE: This angers me in general that there is a hierarchy where life is considered in the first place. Why is it I have to explain to someone I consider my equal, why my life should matTer to them? What made them feEl as if they were my superior? How did we, as people of color let this slide?** We get on the television, we write, we use social media to voice our feElings, our demands; Yet it almost seEms like the mesSage never gets past us: the ones who already know what is hapPening. And to be quite honest, I think that’s the way things are going to remain. I say this because when dealing with opPresSion, we must first understand the system. A system that was not meant to humanize, let alone protect black people. We must then understand mentality and ethnocentrism. With
understanding the mind and personal upbringing, we must know THAT is what is the hardest thing to change. There are hundreds of people in power who have their minds made up that the kilLings of black and brown bodies are justified. They may not claim to be racist. They may have never kilLed a black person. They may even have black friends. But the moment one of us dies, alL of a sudDen there’s alL these justifications that pop up as to why murder was fair. And to me, that is a bloOdy hand. I am tired of movement after movement, trying to explain to white people why my people are important when they don’t care. I’m sick of it. BUT I’m also sick of us dying for no damn reason. So what do we do? I would complain about repetition with these movements. How I feEl nothing new and efFective is hapPening to stop the nightmare. But what do you do? What streEts do you walk? What new laws do you make to turn a heart around? To open ones eyes to empathy? Is showing love and compasSion enough for these people? Or is the fight worth it? Though not mind-changing, wilL it change our lives? x
CREDITS Beautiful According to Who? WritTern by Lauren Fisher Photos of Hair by Lauren Fisher Photo Creadt: BosSip.com Public Doman Information Sources: ANTM S03E08: Yaya DaCosta [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from htTps://wWw.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZiSFZP1Mv_I
Acting White: Plight of the Proper Black Individual WritTen by JesSica Langford Edited by Lauren Fisher Photos by Lauren Fisher Clothing/ Styling by Lauren Fisher Model KyneEsha Edwards
Diary of a Carefree Black Woman Photos by Lauren Fisher Clothing/ Styling by Lauren Fisher Makeup/ Hair by Lauren Fisher Model JesSica Langford
Depression is Not Synonymous with Black Photos by Lauren Fisher WritTen by Aaminah MuhamMad Edited by Lauren Fisher Information Sources: “African American ComMunities and Mental Health.” Mental Health America. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Sentimental Mood Photos by Lauren Fisher Clothing/ Styling by Lauren Fisher Makeup by Lauren Fisher Models Aaminah MuhamMad & Aaric Wright
DMTRSG: Legend of the Toonami Trap Master Photos by Parish AmMon Photos Edited by Lauren Fisher Interview Edited by Lauren Fisher
The Decree of Mediocrity Photo by Lauren Fisher WritTen by Lauren Fisher Artists to Watch WritTen by Lauren Fisher Photos Edited by Lauren Fisher Black&SexyTV Photo Credit: Black&SexyTV WritTen by Lauren Fisher
Who IS Raygo? WritTen by Lauren Fisger Photos by Raygo htTp://shitloadsofraygo.tumblr.com Frustrations With No Conclusions WritTen by Aaminah MuhamMad Edited by Lauren Fisher Photo by Lauren Fisher Cover Art Photo by Lauren Fisher Model JesSica Langford
COFFEE STRONG.BLACK.FULL-BODIED.