Akili Womensplains Things to Me
This year, I did two special photo shoots celebrating Pride Month. Both took place at Industry City in Brooklyn, a vibrant place providing a lot of photo opps and spots to hang out. Not only did I need an interesting scenery with some colors to incorporate on my shots, but also I was looking for a diverse, comfortable environment. I met with Torres and Akili, two very different and very interesting women who happen to represent the LGBT community. You can check out my previous post to see what we created with Torres, but this time I'll be focusing on Akili and let me tell you, she's a great point of focus.
I met with Akili in June and my shoot with her was a part one of Pride Month celebration. However, by the end of our shoot and conversation, I already knew the title of this post. I also realized I should publish it outside of Pride Month. That is because, even though Akili represents the LGBT community, her sexual orientation shouldn't be a special issue, but just one fact about her. So how about we celebrate Pride Month every month?
Meeting Akili in Brooklyn turned out to be very accurate, cuz not long ago, she moved there to start a new chapter of her life. I spent a wonderful afternoon with her as she is a very positive and creative person. She's also a very stylish woman who takes a good care of her self. I really love when women do that, cuz it shows the amount of respect they give themselves. Akili's beauty is not only external. She is very kind and fun to be around. She emits a lot of positive vibes and talking to her is a treat. She's also a badass as a professional. She works at Kate Spade as an Operation Manager and is interested in stock investments (if I didn't mess up all the smart words she said to me LOL). That girl is going places!
AsW: When did you make yourself the most proud?
AKILI: I think I was the most proud, to be honest, was when I cut my hair, because I was so attached to it and the beauty that I thought stemmed from it. The societal views of what a woman of color should look like. I just felt liberated after that because it was me and I was accepting of me. I think it's the most important thing, to be accepting of yourself before the society accepts you.
AsW: What do you appreciate other women for the most?
AKILI: I appreciate other women for their confidence. I think it's spectacular when a female can have a confidence beyond measure, beyond criticism, societal views. I think, confidence is shown in all different ways in all different women. I appreciate when I meet someone with the energy that I try to posses every day.
AsW: In your opinion, what do we have in common as women, despite our different cultures, background, lifestyles or sexual orientation?
AKILI: I think we have the nature of intimacy in common. I feel like no matter what, we all have guilty pleasures and we all have things that we enjoy, but it's the intimate aspect that makes us women. There's a ton of appreciation when there's more of the intimate connection. Whether it's sexual or just emotional, the intimacy, kind of, ties us together. We all have a story behind that.
AsW: Is there anything you wish people knew about LGBT community?
AKILI: I think that the community is totally separated. It's almost like it's its own entity, but I feel like we're all the same. We're just people who thrive of different pleasures and that embody a lot of confidence that other people wish they possessed. Being yourself and being self-expressive is very hard, but at one point I would just want to see the unity and not feeling just as if being gay, lesbian, straight, trans, whatever it is, needs to be put in a particular category. I mean, all special things and events are great, but it doesn't need to be so separate, where we cannot co-mingle or co-habitat and feel like we're just people who have different interests. I'm still a woman and you're still a woman. You know what I mean? I think that's what I'd like to see.
Dear Akili,
You are such a beautiful person! It was so easy to work and vibe with you. As we spoke before, taking photos of someone, portraits in particular, is taking a piece of their intimacy. I appreciate your intimate energy a lot. You're natural in front of a camera and photographing you is really rewarding. Not only are you a gorgeous woman, but also, talking to you is a treat. You bring so much positive energy to the table. You also bring coffee and wine to the table which are beverages of our preference LOL! You have a beautiful period of your life ahead of you and I wish you make the best of it! Thrive grl!
With love,
Anja
Unexpected, my favorite..
