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During the final session of BoF VOICES 2024 an intensely personal series of talks explored what it takes to stand up to challenge unjust societal norms and find power and courage in the face of opposition.
“We are living through a time that often feels insurmountably divided in a moment when the voice of doubt and division grows louder, we cannot afford to yield to it,” said Mory Fontanez, a life coach and the founder of consultancy Eight22 Group. “We cannot buy into the darkness we’ve been taught to see in others. The only way, the only way we can dispel this false illusion is by remembering our own light and by radiating it with courage and compassion and unwavering purpose.”
Find Your Truth
French-born makeup artist and drag queen Karl Sanchez, best known by the stage name Nicky Doll, grew up between Marseille, the Caribbean and Morocco in cultures where men were expected to behave as “men” and where Doll never felt like she could be herself. It was only when they began dressing as a woman that she began to understand and embrace the parts of herself that society had told her to reject.
“Drag allowed me to unlock my full potential as a human being. From this art form, I learned that my femininity, my masculinity, my wildness and my grace all can coexist,” Sanchez said. “It is that balance, that harmony, that is the true art of transformation … [it] goes beyond gender, beyond fashion. It’s about finding who we truly are.”
Model-and-influencer couple Nara and Lucky Blue Smith have attracted millions of followers and intense criticism for showing the world who they really are on social media. Over the last year, Nara’s TikToks making meals from scratch wearing high fashion have attracted viral levels of attention, but also become enmeshed in the controversy around “trad wife” accounts that some see as pushing a conservative agenda.
“Its the internet. You can’t believe everything you hear and see,” Lucky said, describing how the couple cope with the criticism. “You have to try and focus on the positive.”
Find Your Power
Trailblazing former model, agent and advocate Bethann Hardison spoke with London-based British-Jamaican designer Bianca Saunders about her life and experiences pushing the modelling industry to confront its racism in the 1970s and 1980s.
“It’s not easy calling people out,” Hardison said in conversation that showcased the witty and irreverent style that’s allowed her to both criticise the industry while remaining a beloved part of it. At 82, she’s not done either. “I’ll always remain an advocate of injustice,” Hardison said. “I always feel I have my foot on the clutch because it could slip back and I haven’t got the time or patience I did before to put up with this shit.”
Utkarsh Saxena co-founded an AI platform aimed at transforming justice systems in India and the global South after leading a fight for marriage equality in India. The country has a rich history of sexual fluidity that has been suppressed by archaic and discriminatory laws originally imposed by the British empire.
The campaign narrowly failed, but it taught Saxena powerful lessons about what it takes to effect cultural societal change. Advocacy has to be representative, diverse and human. And even if change doesn’t come as fast or in the form initially hoped for, advocates have to persevere.
After the courts voted against marriage equality, Saxena was initially devastated. “But sometimes you have to step back and take a look at the longer arc of history and realise how far we’ve come so quickly,” he said. His nonprofit now builds AI solutions for the courts who ruled against him. This, too, is advocacy work, bringing judges face to face with a member of the queer community they’ve refused to recognise.
“The best way of living your full, complete, unabashed life is to just keep loving each other,” said Saxena. “That’s why I remain foolishly optimistic.”
Find Your Purpose
Photographer Giles Duley was on assignment with American troops in Afghanistan when he stepped on an explosive device. The blast almost killed him and cost him both legs and his left arm. He spent three days in a medically induced coma, unable to move or do more than blink.
“This is where I learned the true power of creativity and imagination,” Duley told the audience in a moving session that earned a standing ovation from the audience. To stay sane he imagined projects he’d shoot, planning out every detail in his mind and then thinking of ways to improve his imaginary work.
“Creativity is greater than anything else … as creative people, even in ultimate lockdown we cannot be stopped,” he said.
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