What's in a Name?

Martin Poitier

Martin Poitier- Haitian-American ancestry; The older brother of Zahara Poitier, Martin is described as being a "low-key, shy kind of guy" who tends to keep to himself when at school. He is often laid-back and seen as being relatively nerdy with his interest in video games and anime, being passionate about animation and a massive fan of various manga. A self-described "unlucky every dude", he considers himself the unattractive one among his male peers and is insecure about his dark skin color. He tends to feel self-conscious about his appearance and often feels unattractive to his female peers, whom he believes all want the "handsome, buff white knight in shining armor". Martin's family emigrated to New York shortly before his birth, making him grow accustomed to the social barriers that can potentially arise in the city. He quickly developed an attraction to his white female classmate Kate Stojanovic that is often scorned upon by his family due to hesitation over his and Kate's differing racial and cultural backgrounds. Like his sister Zahara, he has poor vision and developed a case of myopia, with his having been given a relatively high eyeglass prescription. As a dark-complexioned boy, his father tries to protect his son from potentially being hurt by what he often regards as the "ugly truths of life". Martin is deeply committed to winning Kate's affection however, despite his family's admonitions, and has also chosen to follow her on social media. Although many of his black female counterparts disapproved of her, Martin was captivated by her compassionate heart and slowly became enamored by her inner beauty and hidden depths. 

He likes Hip-hop and R&B, as he is a big fan of Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, and Chance the Rapper, yet he considers country music to be his guilty pleasure, enjoying the messages in each song by Luke Bryan, George Strait, and Shania Twain. He is not very athletic and struggles to join in with his male peers in physical activities, causing him to not fit in particularly well with "the guys". Martin is somewhat of a homebody, preferring to stay in reading manga and looking for the latest anime show on the web, in addition to sending snapchats to his closest friends and watching YouTube videos on his phone. He is a year older than many of his peers in the sophomore class due to having been held back a year in the 4th grade and is mostly seen with his best friend Zeke Kemp. Zeke is an equally unpopular, scraggly-haired white boy whom is socially outcast among his peers and often rejected for his appearance, with his greasy shoulder-length brown hair and a skinny fat body that is described as having a slightly bulging belly. He is sociable, kindhearted, friendly, and takes having fun very seriously, using the word "tender" when he is feeling particularly good about himself. While he is prone to occasional lapses of ignorance and laziness, Martin consistently executes hallway schemes that improve the lives of him and his friends. In second grade, he invented the word "womps", which is what the kids of the playground use instead of "stinks" of "sucks" to describe an unpleasant situation or person. Despite being skinnier than his classmates, he is capable of pulling a few stunts, such as escaping detention by climbing either out the window or from the roof of the school a few times. His poor self-image lead him to develop orthorexia once he becomes obsessed with his appearance and weight as a means of self-control upon trying out for and being rejected from the high school basketball team. 

Martin is average height with a thin frame, and he wears glasses and has dark brown eyes, a dark complexion, and coarse, afro-textured hair that he keeps buzzed down at the sides with a high fade. He has struggled with suicidal ideation in the past as a result of his depression, although his mother quickly discouraged this behavior and encouraged him to receive therapy to resolve his issues with self-identity. He also suffered from internalized racism, developing a subconscious prejudice against those with shared features and distancing himself from the Black community to avoid negative stereotyping based on his complexion. A particular occurrence of this involves a racial profiling incident he experienced when visiting a mall during a date with Kate due to a disturbance that was presumed to have been caused by another black male. Despite his interesting face and deep-set eyes, Martin had a nervously awkward and ungainly appearance as a child and adolescent, defined by his wide-stance, lumbering walk, and oversized glasses. Even so, many females claim he became somewhat "cuter" and more attractive in a boy-next-door sort of way by the time he reached college. He began to work out more frequently by then and received corrective eye surgery, in addition to experimenting with his hairstyle and making his appearance more fashionable. He finally lost his virginity to Kate on top of a picnic table at a roadside rest stop and had sex with her 4 more times over fall break, but always with a condom. Martin's perspective begins to change when he volunteers at the Beacon Street Women's Center, where he helps young girls of color feel empowered and embrace themselves confidently. He also worked part-time at the concessions stand and box office at the local movie theater as a teenager, but went on to pursue a career in UI/UX design after going to college. 

He later had a front desk job at the admissions office at Liberty University, which he attended with his first girlfriend and later wife Kate Stojanovic. They resumed seeing each other once he got home and gave her battery a jump start, as they had missed each other too much. Although his and Kate's marriage culminated in divorce, they parted ways amicably and Martin continued to be actively involved in the life of his two children. He had a daughter named Tatiana, who wore her hair in bubble braids and a son named Malik, and he provided for and helped them through college. Kate also remained his friend and kept in touch with him throughout the years, considering him someone dear and precious in her life as the father of her children. He ultimately moved to Delaware and furthered his career as a UI/UX designer, where he fell in love with a bespectacled, short and squat African American woman named Penelope who had a dark skin tone and styled her natural hair in short, tight kinky curls. Martin considered her to be nice-looking and noticed that she had her own unique charm with her warm personality and quiet confidence in herself. This encouraged him to see himself in a new, more positive light and support Penelope's career as a Nurse Case Manager at the local Methodist hospital in Dover. He eventually married her and took her to Antigua, conceiving a son named Booker with her and finding a new appreciation for black female beauty as he learned how to do Bantu knots. He empowered his partner and had an enduring, happy married life, with the two visiting Jazz clubs and spending their free time watching Netflix movies together in the living room. 

As an adult, Martin focuses on tactical tasks like selecting colors, typefaces, and buttons, or creating personas and customer journey maps. He spends up to 40 percent of the day in strategic meetings, triaging Jira tickets, writing research plans, and defending design decisions to stakeholders who may not understand the user-centric process. He enjoys activities that train his "design eye," such as visiting art galleries, participating in hackathons, or creating mock app redesigns for his portfolio. Professionally, he is also highly proficient in tools like Figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch and says he transitioned to UI/UX because he wanted to solve real-world problems through technology. Martin is the emotional bedrock of his marriage, providing comfort and stability, while his wife is the high-powered, energetic breadwinner.  He is not "hard" or stoic, as he is comfortable showing vulnerability and affection, defying the hyper-masculine stereotype. Both partners are nerdy and share a niche passion, and their affection is expressed through shared humor and supporting each other's "odd" interests. Their dialogue is intellectual, focusing on art, community, or culture instead of urban struggles, and he is meticulous, fastidious, and proud of his craftsmanship. Martin and Penelope tend to run a quiet, modern household focusing on both financial independence and mental health. They decide to remain in a small, close-knit town that is rather adamant in preserving history, genealogy, and slow living. After being married for over 20 years with grown children, they choose to reinvent themselves upon empty nesting. They are passionate, as well as slightly eccentric, and often work together on community curation projects. ISFJ 6w5