the restoration project

About

Since childhood, I have always gravitated towards Latin American culture. I remember being the only black kid playing soccer with my Mexican classmates and learning various phrases in Spanish. I remember thinking, “Wow, this language is so musical and expressive.” When I got to college, I applied to our study abroad program in Argentina and was accepted. I had never traveled abroad but I wasn’t afraid. I was eager to learn Spanish and immerse myself in a new culture. That year I took tango lessons and went dancing in milongas. I went to the Argentina vs. Brazil soccer game at the Boca Juniors stadium and saw Uruguay’s team play as well. I also traveled south to Patagonia, visited Uruguay & Chile, and got pretty good at Spanish. I loved traveling around South America so much I decided to study International Relations & Spanish. I knew that whatever I ended up choosing as a career it would be in Latin America.

Fast-forward to my senior year of college. I applied to the Fulbright Grant in Brazil and won! I moved to Campinas, Brazil and served as an English teacher and cultural ambassador at one of Brazil’s top universities, UNICAMP. While living there, I traveled to Rio De Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, São Paulo, Campos do Jordão, Chapada Diamantina, and several other places, but the city that impacted me most was Salvador do Bahia. Eighty-percent of their population is black or multiracial! I realized that I had never seen so many people that looked like me in one place. I visited the city three times over the course of a year and each time I fell deeper in love. The music, the art, the warmth of the people… The friends I met took me in like family and showed me around their city. It began to feel like home. During my stay, I met many people who had family or friends in Angola and Mozambique. Their connection to Africa was so strong! And not to mention the language... Portuguese captured my heart. Salvador showed me that I was not just African-American but part of a global community. It also helped me to understand what it meant to be part of the African diaspora.

The Restoration Project is about my journey back to self. It is my story told through various mediums whose aim is to inspire honesty, authenticity, and self-understanding. It is fueled by my desire to define myself outside of white supremacy and understand what it means to be black in the world. I began this project after I returned home from Brazil in 2016 and up until now it has just been a “hobby”. I am currently writing a memoir, recording an EP, and writing scripts for comedy sketches & short films. I love to create and collaborate with other artists so please reach out if you’re interested. I’ll be updating my website regularly so stay tuned for more content.