I watched with tears and rented heart as ‘Tank’ shed her clothes article by article. She is more than style. More than her big hair. More than her layers of scarves. More than multi-colored stripped socks stretched to her knees. Than her large vintage glasses her smiling ears showed through. So, piece by piece, they fell to the ground. She dangles her feet high above them from atop a tall wooden stool playfully blushing amidst her fallen garbs. Every layer seemed to represent a limitation… a perception… an excuse… a weight, and she was laying them down.
“What would you tell your 12-year-old self?” a voice echoes across the room.
“F**k ‘em… f**k all that s**t. …believe… work hard… Do… or… die…”
She’s going to make it count. Her melanin-rich skin. Her eyes, her lips, her body. Her spirit – both old and young at the same time.
At the end of the day,… she wants “nothing left in her hands” (Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball).
–LM Jones
A most special thanks to Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball* for your courage and story and StyleLikeU* for your unquenched passion to shine a light for self-acceptance and love.
You can find a sampling and their info at the bottom of that snapshot article.
*StyleLikeU is a mother-daughter duo uncovering the story beneath the style in hopes their documentation of “candid… interviews empower individuals..” in “building a world where getting dressed in the morning is an act of self-love.” (StyleLikeU YouTube channel)
https://www.youtube.com/user/stylelikeu
https://www.facebook.com/stylelikeu
https://www.instagram.com/stylelikeu/