From Homelessness to Fashion Modeling
In this week’s Race/Related newsletter: Meet Aaron Philip, a black transgender teenager who recently signed a modeling contract; and tell us how you deal with racist remarks.
By Tyler Blint-Welsh
For a long time, being online was where Aaron Philip felt most confident.
She began documenting her daily life on Tumblr when she was 11, writing about her love of anime and the experience of growing up in New York City with cerebral palsy. In those days, Aaron got online with a MacBook and a personal Wi-Fi hot spot at a homeless shelter in Manhattan, where she lived with her father after her medical bills became too expensive.
“I took to the internet to find community and build a space for myself where I could be loved and appreciated,” she said.
Despite her circumstances, Aaron projected a positive attitude online, once telling her followers: “Sometimes, it’s you who has to trigger your own happiness.”
Aaron, 17, now lives in an apartment in the Bronx. She doesn’t go anywhere without her iPad, which usually sits on a tray attached to her motorized wheelchair. She’s graduated from Tumblr to Twitter and Instagram, where she has become a champion of issues affecting gay, transgender and disabled youth.
Last fall, Aaron announced her ambition to become a model. “I bleached my hair, and I bought a new wardrobe with the intentions of going viral, which is crazy,” she said with a laugh.
Aaron’s confidence is no longer confined to the internet. To jump-start her modeling career, she used Instagram to send messages to fashion photographers and set up photo shoots, which landed her campaigns with brands such as ASOS and H&M. In July, she became the first black transgender model — and the first physically disabled model — to be signed to Elite Model Management.
The signing comes at a time when the fashion industry is starting to respond to decades of criticism for practices that made tall, thin, white women its standard for beauty.
Someone Just Made a Racist Remark. What Do You Do?
We want to learn more about how people who have heard a racist remark address it.
By Rachel L. Swarns
You heard a racist comment from a friend, a relative, a co-worker, a stranger: What did you do? Did you speak up? Were you stunned into silence?
Many of us condemn hateful speech, but confronting it can be challenging for some people. We want to hear about your experiences, about how you’ve responded or struggled to respond when you’ve encountered someone making a racist remark.
Your submission may be selected for publication in our Race/Related newsletter and you may be invited to participate in Race/Related’s weekly Facebook Live chat.
Connect With Us.
Randy Archibold, deputy sports editor, joined readers this week on Facebook Live to chat about Colin Kaepernick’s key legal victory in his case against the N.F.L. Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, filed a grievance, accusing the league and its owners of conspiring to keep him off the field in retaliation for the social justice protests he started in 2016. An arbitrator ruled this week that the case can go forward. [Watch]
Join us on Sept. 20 in Portland, Ore. for an event with the activist DeRay Mckesson in conversation with Lauretta Charlton, editor of the Race/Related newsletter. Lauretta and DeRay will discuss his new book, “On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope,” inclusion, communities, empowerment and more. Use promo code NYTIMES for $5 off the ticket price. [Tickets]
If you have experienced, witnessed or read about a hate crime or incident of bias or harassment, you can use this form to send information about the incident to Race/Related and other partners in the Documenting Hate project.
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