Danaé believes in love as a charismatic and powerful source of passion, with which she fuels any aspects of her life. Both a model and a radio talk show host, Danaé is a Black spiritual woman who loves to exchange conversations. She does that so effortlessly and with a great wish to share her strong and empathic opinions. As Pride month concluded, we should all start thinking about the ways with which we can all still support and listen to Black queer voices, make them heard and vivid in our realities. The conversations shall not be ended nor resumed only this time next year.

As I’m building this space in media here with Fashion On The Beat and through my own words at The Curly Flower, I want to make sure to create a socially sustainable space in media made of heterogeneous conversations and constructive inputs. Even though we're still small, we're mighty and powerful. Thank you in advance to all the readers who will take the time to support and learn from these narratives, the ones that are still way too often underrepresented in mainstream media.

I felt comfortable talking with all of the people I got to include in this campaign. I personally learned a lot by capturing with my ears their voices and by reporting their stories on this platform. You can tell that Danaé is an excellent journalist, who loves to talk. It was a pleasure to meet this soul at the right time for this project.

What is love in your opinion and how do you channel love through your work?

Love is committing to the better person you’re engaging with, regardless of the familiarity. For me positive passion is love and I make sure to infuse love in any job I do.

How do we overcome the stigma around traditional practices and paths in identities?

There are so many layers to this topic. For me, one of the most important things has been to have a really supportive family and parents. Those are the people who wanted me to go after what I wanted to go after. Besides my cousin, I am the only queer person in my family. Having parents who were receptive to who I am was really important and has shaped me into the person I’ve become as an adult. In order to overcome the stigmas and prejudices around traditional mindsets is by simply existing, in my opinion. Showing up as your real self as much as possible speaks volumes. If you shelter yourself for the sake of other people’s comfortability then you’re diminishing yourself and you’re silencing an entire community that is behind you. The most important thing to me is to exist as authentically as I possibly can.

How does your queerness influence your life and love narratives?

To answer this question I have to talk about accepting my queerness first and how has that influenced everything else. I never felt comfortable calling myself either straight or bisexual, never felt right except for queer. Because I couldn’t put myself in a box and I would date men as a preference, I thought I was not valuable enough to use the term queer. Understanding that no matter what I genuinely was and felt queer allowed me to create and express myself the way I desired to. If you have this sheltered view of yourself it’s hard to create freely. Outside of talking, my creative medium is modeling. Because I have learned to accept my queerness I have been able to flow freely in my movements and images, and how I portray and show myself to people. When I have these kinds of conversations I feel comfortable living fully in my experience because the hardest thing to accept about myself I’ve already accepted it. The acceptance of my reality influences my life and creativity.

What would a queer vision for a utopia be in a world with no colonialism, White supremacy, patriarchy, or capitalism?

The world would look so beautiful without all these things. There would be no corny commercials or advertisements with Pride flags or events. People would be much more honest and free. Walking up and down the streets would be calm and less judgy. It would all look like freedom.

How can non-queer people help Black queer people?

We want people to humanize us. Mutual aid and financial support can be a few of the many ways to support programs and projects that can help us elevate and showcase our presence. Regardless of who you are, everyone wants to be heard and taken care of. If we stopped putting so much emphasis on the otherness of people, we could all see each other as who were are, in our whole authenticity. I think that is the most important thing to do to help anyone, especially queer people.

Love and Pride with Danaé Reid

Standing up for yourself through writing, sharing, and caring with Rayelle and Rachel