“Experiencing the beginnings of the pandemic, has been the first time I felt new heightened level of anxiety and depression. It was also the first time I actually felt terror. To witness the consecutive deaths of black bodies that look like my own and how mass and social media has treated that as sensation, and rapidly became desensitized to the recorded lynchings was devastating to witness. I was burnt out and terrified to walk outside.

The first few months my practices halted and I struggled to focus on my art and read books. The pandemic collectively slowed us down from the hustle of life, giving us also an opportunity to take time and reflect on our choices, desires, needs with minimal distraction. During the pandemic, movement has felt the most accessible, taking me out of my mind and into the body. It was one of the ways that I kept in contact with close communities and made newer connections with other creatives later on in the pandemic.”