In This Moment

This moment has been one of deep reflection, observation and contemplation. Though I’ve come to meet, dealt with, experienced, and gone through multiple forms of shear ignorance, assumptions of who I am and what I am from multiple races in the times I’ve lived through, I’ve learned and acknowledged and found truth in that my presence as an idea and creation of God is power. People are intimidated by what they cannot dominate. If physical chains cannot hold a people down, then it’s open season, on the mind, spirit, and soul.

I distinctively can recall the inauguration of Barack Obama, watching it in my studio apartment in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles on the floor glued to the screen, wondering what the world would be after he served his country. Though jubilee fueled millions of souls, I still wondered, ‘how would people treat the influential, trend-setting and culture driving force of people that look like him, his wife and his daughters?’ I thought how would people treat me? A son, from Southeast D.C. and now a husband to Christian Warren and father to Elle Victorious, and Michael David, and our new child residing daily in my wife’s womb. Yet, in my apartment, I could not imagine that years later, a young boy would be fatally killed and his image transformed into a spark of light and a rallying cry lighting the way of peaceful protest that is changing the world today.

In this moment, I have to ask, why must souls feed the earth for change to come? Sam Cooke told us a “Change Gonna Come” but did change have to come like this; One brought down with unmistakably brutal force, many knelled on, many chased, many choked, one shot on a balcony, one shot at a podium, thousands of strange fruits, millions beaten and millions worked to their last breaths. Let us not forget the millions that chose the water over chains than to arrive on this once “new” land. Why must lives be lost to be seen? How can you know me, yet look through me?

In this movement, I see that when injustice feeds the earth, justice has no choice but to rise and justice cannot be ignored while liberty demanded. My prayer is that the atonement for these lives are not in vain. That justice can be seen in the land of the living for the millions that have purpose and promise. My prayer is that we learn from the Great Teacher to treat our “neighbors as ourselves,” as God’s ideas. For neighbors are not measured in distance, they are measured in the reflection of human nature. Who is your neighbor? I am your neighbor.

As a company of two for now, that celebrates two centers of culture and history in DC PROPER and Compton Flight Club, we’ve decided not to rest but acknowledge our stance in the journey of equality. On this journey, we need help, and are called to help. I also work full-time in community development with Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County that is doing the work in aiding families on the path of building generation wealth, sustainable communities and legacies. My wife Christian manages our legacies and our business while I do work I’ve been called to in this season. For everyone who has supported us, I thank you. We thank you. We ask that you speak about us, write about us and hold us accountable as we create products and projects that are born out of our passions and the energy of our culture.

The name A Life Well Dressed started as an exhibit to celebrate men and show their equality and commonality, no matter their race, culture, generation and background. I wanted viewers to look at these men and see that no matter how you look at them, you can decipher their commonalities in how they think, what they read, how they speak, how they groom themselves and how they dress. This idea is at the core of who we are. A Life Well Dressed on the surface can mean clothes but for us, A Life Well Dressed is a life clothed in humanity and respect for all. A Life Well Dressed is your life, my life, our lives.

Michael A. Warren