daraja [COMPLETED✅]

Letters to Pepper LaBeija

1

Thank you.

Thank you for living.

Thank you for shining.

Thank you for walking.

Thank you.

2

Mother LaBeija,

I wish I was alive then.

I wish I could've walked with you.

I wish I could've talked with you.

From, a Queer Black Boy.

3

Teach me your ways.

I want to be just like you.

To carry myself.

To be proud.

Teach me.

4

Pepper, of House LaBeija,

you forever captured your

image and your art in this

film. Paris isn't burning.

Paris is alive.

5

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

6

You are a foremother,

a forebear of all the young

and hopeful queer kids of

my generation.

We look up to you.

7

I want to be apart of your

legacy, of House Labeija.

From now on, I am now

Daraja Labeija.

I carry your name.

8

You lived in a time where

even walking outside as

an openly queer person

was a death sentence.

Yet, you still lived defiantly.

9

I wonder if you knew about

Miss Marsha.

I wonder if you knew about

Harvey Milk.

I wonder if you knew other legends.

10

Pepper LaBeija.

You will always be remembered

as a pioneer in the lives

of queer people and youth.

Thank you.