“Brought to you by Pharrell Williams, i am OTHER is dedicated to Thinkers, Innovators, and Outcasts. By celebrating creative people and pursuits of all kinds, we showcase architects of global culture, music, fashion, and the arts. Be OTHER.”

So, if someone were to ask me who inspires me, who do I admire, and if I could be locked in a dungeon for 72 hours with one person who would it be – I would answer without hesitation, well I might hesitate because I love Bob Marley, but I would gather my thoughts and respond Pharrell Williams.

Now again he would be on a long list of other people who I consider, no brain-ers, that I admire but nonetheless he would be pretty damn high up on the list. Whether people think he is arrogant, an ass, or unfriendly in person – I would take that with a grain of salt and just bask in his ambiance.

I found out about his channel, iamOTHER, through my loyal allegiance to Issa Rae’s channel on YouTube, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. I can remember sitting in my dorm room glued to my computer just laughing my butt off at the several awkward and shared experiences of being a black girl. I eventually was able to get all three of my roommates, at the time, in on the clips and for the rest of my upperclassmen experiences reenacting some instances from the channel. I want to say Pharrell came in towards the end of the first season and recruited Issa and developed this iamOTHER YouTube channel and since then has cultivated a place where fashion, culture, stereotypes, weridos, and hoodrats converge and discuss topics of interest.

This channel is LIFE! I am in graduate school, now, studying public policy and while I will get a Masters in public policy and I can see myself turning towards getting involved with organizations like iamOTHER. With this blog I hope to verbally display what Pharrell, Issa, Ryan Hall, and others visually display.

Please take a look at the video below and let us all continue to be #OTHER.

“At certain point you decide are you going to actually be who you are authentically, bravely, and courageously . . .” – direct quote from cute old lady in the above clip

Astu Mengesha – Stay Down Blaze Up