Words by Wendy Owusu
Photograph by Nicole Ngai
As a child, you draw things that you like or dream about in the simplest way. There are a few geometrical shapes, like a triangle or a square, that are necessary to draw a house, a safe image that lots of children draw because this place brings a feeling of comfort. They also draw their parents, their pets or even their garden.
Growing up, we as humans sometimes feel the need to have a second home – a home that is intangible. We don’t build this home with concrete or wood, nor do we buy it; we make it out of our feelings. It is this home in which you get to decide who is going to be your siblings and your parents, decisions made on the feeling that you can be yourself around them. It brings you a feeling of home that can be more profound than it was in the house that you grew up in.
Community is strong, so strong that sometimes it becomes your second home.
The people who support you become your mothers, sisters, brothers.
They get to know you, to understand what you are going through.
My community is:
My friends
My family
My girls
The people I vogue with
The women who don’t always feel at ease in some places, but are brave enough to help each other and to share those feelings
The women and girls who once felt too dark but now embrace their skin and bodies
The women and girls who all around the world try to reach out to one another to say you’re not alone, I’m here to.
HELP. SUPPORT. LISTEN
This article originally appeared in GURLS TALK’s takeover for the The Rise Together Issue #7 of BRICKS Magazine.