Exploring Our Humanity
IdentityRVA
IdentityRVA! is a photography and video exhibit that focuses on the humanity in each of us as our fellow human beings. Through it, we are seeking to raise awareness and explore issues around how we are all more alike than we might think despite some of our differences. Eleven diverse women and eleven diverse men were part of an interactive exhibit in February 2020.
In addition to being photographed, Memories Videography produced the video interviews, allowing these inspiring women and men to share their stories. The videos are engaging, powerful, and quite moving.
The Interview
Check out the interview on CBS 6 Richmond with Jessica Noll, Greg McQuade, and Shabina Shanawaz about the IdentityRVA project!
Interview on CBS 6 Richmond
Complete Participant Interviews
TMI Consulting
Dr. Tiffany Jana (who is gender neutral prefers they/them pronouns) grew up in Europe and other cultures which provided them with a broader view of the world than afforded most people. They were often the only African-American student in their classroom, both overseas and in the states. But it wasn’t until they were attending Virginia Union University—a historically African American University—that they experienced their professor’s assumption that they would excel.
In hindsight, Dr. Jana realized that throughout much of their academic career, their teachers believed they would be one of the lowest performing students. They also realized that they took great delight in proving them wrong. Their experiences informed their profession—they navigate the world building bridges across differences through their work in cultural diversity.
Smart, eloquent, and strongly opinionated (and unafraid to speak up), Dr. Jana describes themself as creative, visionary and overly optimistic. They struggled to be clear about their gender identity until recently; lives with depression and is comfortable with who they are. “I have had an extraordinarily positive experience as an African American person. I believe God made me beautifully and wonderfully and God doesn’t make mistakes.”
“I had an extraordinarily positive experience…”
Jaime Areizaga-Soto
Jaime Areizaga-Soto is passionate. About life, about politics, about people, and about Puerto Rico, his birthplace. He now considers Virginia his home. Preferring to be considered a public servant rather than a politician, Jaime is committed to his role as a servant leader to help to create a better society and a better world by bringing people together. As the first Latino Deputy Secretary of Veteran and Defense Affairs in Virginia he succeeded in making Virginia the most veteran and military friendly state in the nation. Through his dedication and efforts, Jaime has also made Virginia the first state to effectively end veteran homelessness having housed over 4,000 veterans over the past five years. Another accomplishment that Jaime is proud of is his role in navigating the public policy and regulatory challenges that ultimately led to bringing two nursing homes for veterans to the Commonwealth and that are set to open in 2021.
Jaime’s eyes sparkle about the magic of his growing up in Puerto Rico in the 1980’s and the education and opportunities that his parents ensured he experienced. “It was a superb upbringing, one of pride, respect and knowledge. We were nourished without being nerds.” But, the politics of Puerto Rico are complicated; as a commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Ricans are US citizens. However, in recent years they have sadly lost their rights for self-government leading many Puerto Rican’s to move to the US mainland.
Gratitude and honor are fundamental themes in Jaime’s perspective of life. He’s proud of his heritage and the opportunities he’s experienced and the people he’s met along his journey. Every day he looks to the back of the Virginia State flag for guidance and motivation: ‘Perservando’ which translates to perseverance. “It shows that you just have to stay focused and keep working hard.”
“As a politician, you come to serve others as a representative of the group.
My rights end where your rights begin; we need to understand that in our society to live.
How can you ask to receive when you don’t give? How many people have died to have the right to vote or to have the right to freedom and equality?
It should not be your home life or your zip code that determines your success.”
“"Stay focused and keep working hard.”
Arianna Rose
The first thing you notice about Arianna Rose is how beautiful she is. Her skin is luminous and her eyes sparkle. Yet, she’ll tell you that she mostly hears, “you’re beautiful for a plus size girl.” Arianna is composed, articulate, well-dressed and accessorized and just as beautiful on the inside. She has a lovely singing voice and her rendition of “You are Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera is incredibly moving and powerful.
There have been few champions in Arianna’s life, but one of her strongest supporters was her dad who encouraged her creativity. He died two years ago from suicide. Her challenges with Sjogren Syndrome makes her feel like she has mono about forty percent of the time often impeding her ability to press on with her life and work. There are a lot of misconceptions about being plus-sized. As she says, “people assume I’m physically lazy when the opposite is true.” She does yoga, dances and people are often surprised when they learn she is a plus-sized model.
Facing adversity of her own has taught Arianna to be more accepting of herself and others. In the past year she has come to own the word “fat.” She will tell you, “I’m a fat girl.” She believes that we all have a tendency to judge people with a single glance without thinking about what that person might be battling. She wants people to see her championing herself so that they can champion themselves.
"Own the word ‘fat’.”
Justin Ayars
You know there is more than meets the eye with Justin Ayars when you see his impeccably stylish suit, coupled with bright and vibrant socks peeking out from the hem of his trousers. As President & CEO of Q Media, Justin is on a mission to bring people together, particularly the LGBTQ community and inclusive businesses through storytelling and often in ways that might seem unconventional.
Growing up in Northern Virginia in an artistic family set against the political backdrop of Washington DC, Justin graduated from law school, run a restaurant and a nonprofit, and been a history teacher. This variety of experiences, coupled with his experience of having Liberace as his godfather, informs his advocacy work for the LGBTQ community. Choosing “Q” as his brand – which stands for the Queer in LGBTQ – shows Justin’s strong commitment to equality and his support for the current trend toward gays reclaiming the word for their own. As a child, Justin was overweight and introverted and the bullies called him “Queer” as a derogatory slur.
Justin believes that being gay is a spectrum, much like the rainbow that is a talisman of the gay community. “It's a world of color and most colors on the spectrum we can't see with the human eye and I think it (being gay) is within that spectrum.” Justin also believes the future for gay rights and equality is bright but will include the civil rights dance of one step forward and two steps back all the while moving forward.
Breaking down stereotypes and the walls that separates us drives Justin’s passion. He wants people to see that sexual orientation or gender identity is only a small part of who they are. “Gay people are like everyone - a complex set of emotions and ideas with dreams, aspirations, and lessons yet to be learned.”
“The goal of “Q” magazine is to connect people through the timeless art of storytelling and help inclusive businesses tie into the LGBTQ market sector.
Laugh hard, run fast and be kind. If you do those 3 things you can’t go wrong.
I think we should question everything, including ourselves, especially those things we think we know.
We cannot be defined by a single action. We are the sum of our parts. We have made many poor choices and we have learned from them. That’s called life.”
“We cannot be defined by a single action.”
Davina Winn
Davina Winn grew up in a harsh, judgmental home where she believed God was out to catch her doing wrong and that he would judge and punish her for that wrong-doing. She has since come to believe that God is love and that rather than rules and judgement, her Christianity is more about a relationship with God and others. In her soft southern accent, she says quietly, “the first step is always just to love somebody.”
Still attending the same church she grew up in, Davina says the church had a huge paradigm shift in the 90’s where people began to think that perhaps what they’ve always believed was wrong. A lot of people left the church because of that shift, but that transformation helped frame Davina’s current conviction that grace and love simply must be the foundation for her belief system.
Davina understands that people have a tendency to make assumptions about her belief systems because they know she’s a Christian. However, she says she would hope they would to get to know her before making those judgements. As she says, “I know how wrong those judgments can be.” She tries not to feel guilty about her earlier judgements of others. She would want you to know that she is a loved and beloved daughter of God but that she’s human and makes mistakes like everyone else.
“The first step is always just to love somebody.”
Keri Abrams
At the age of 63, Keri Abrams has only been out as a transgender woman for about 8 years. From the time she was 3 years old, she knew that while she was male-bodied, her soul, brain and feelings were female-oriented. She always coveted the lacy anklets and the ballet flats that the “other girls” had and loved going to a friend’s house where they would play “sisters.” Kerri married four different women hoping to find the one woman who could “fix” her. As she says, “There’s a fix for this, but it’s not marrying a woman.”
Kerri’s life was so confusing and frustrating that she was intentionally rude and nasty to the people in her life so they wouldn’t get close enough to know her. She thought about transitioning in the 80’s but at the time she was involved with a group of motorcycle enthusiasts. Instinct told her that she would not survive coming out to this particular group of friends.
In late 2009 her fourth marriage was over, and she was so depressed she thought of killing herself. The only thing that stopped her was the idea that no one would take care of her dog. That defining moment changed her life, starting her on the journey to becoming the woman she is today.
“There’s a fix for this, but it’s not marrying a woman.”
Dr. Roger Loria
Dr. Roger Loria has degrees in clinical microbiology, clinical biochemistry and has some 50 patents for medical discoveries in immunology and virus infections. He’s taught at MCV for 41 years and more than 6,000 people have become physicians under his tutelage. And yet, it’s somewhat of a miracle that Dr. Loria is here to make these profound contributions to our world. From the age of 2 ½ to 4 he lived in multiple refugee camps as a result of Hitler’s war on Jews.
Born in Antwerp, Belgium, in a well-to-do family in the diamond business, Dr. Loria and his family were rounded up during that city’s Kristallnacht pogram along with his parents, and other relatives. His father and cousins were ultimately deported to Auschwitz and he was sent to several refugee camps in France with his mother where they were provided a starvation diet of only 800 calories a day. In the winter of 1943-44, Dr. Loria’s mother used diamonds she’d hidden in a hollowed-out toothbrush to pay smugglers to take them to safety in Switzerland. It was his job to pop sugar cubes into the mouth of the other baby whenever he would start to cry in order to keep him quiet from the guards.
At the end of the war, Dr. Loria and his mother were expatriated back to Antwerp where they learned everyone on his father’s side of the family had been killed and they were essentially penniless and homeless. His mother became employed at a local Jewish orphanage and Dr. Loria was sent to live with the boys, only seeing his mother on her days off. The orphanage was ultimately moved to Israel and life began to get better for Dr. Loria and his mother. At the age of 18 he joined the Israeli army followed by college.
Fast forward to spring of 2018 and Dr. Loria visited the original deportation site which is now a museum outside Antwerp. For the first time he saw the face of his mother’s sister and the signature of his father. He also learned that he indeed had family that survived the war and they have now been in touch after more than 70 years of not knowing they existed.
“I don't have any hate. Hate eats you up. It only hurts you.
Everyone under the age of 9 who was sent to Auschwitz was killed immediately.
The war doesn’t end immediately. It took 70 years.
What does it meant to be Jewish? It’s a cultural thing, it’s about justice.”
“I don't have any hate. Hate eats you up.”
Jesse Wysocki
Jesse Wysocki is funny, outgoing and loves to laugh. He also loves his kids and loves to help others. He is the COO for McShin Foundation, a nonprofit that is a recovery community that serves individuals and families in their fight against substance use disorders. Jesse knows something about that; he used to be a heroin addict.
Prior to achieving sobriety seven years ago, Jesse would boomerang in and out of prison, racking up numerous felony convictions and two sleeves of tattoos that represent his fierce love for his kids. His journey to drug addiction started like it does for many others - pain-relieving drugs prescribed as the result of a football injury in high school. His first experience with heroin was at the age of 15. It made him feel like a rock star and he chased that feeling for the next seventeen years. He landed in prison for the first time at the age of 19. Today, Jesse is proud to say he no longer uses any mood or mind-altering chemicals including alcohol or cigarettes.
At one of his lowest points, Jesse would shoot up in the back seat of his car in the company of his four-year-old son. When his son asked him if he could have some of his “medicine” too, Jesse knew it was time to get help, which he did just one week later. His recovery started with a 12-step program that he continues to adhere to today along with exercise and sports which also help him manage his addiction. He will tell you that recovery is a daily practice, a commitment to his mental hygiene.
“My recovery always comes first. I love it and it’s freeing.
People get knocked down all the time. It’s just about getting back up.
As they say, recovery is an inside job – it’s definitely got to come from within.
There’s a saying in the recovery world: ‘Love them until they can love themselves’ and I believe that’s so true.”
“My recovery always comes first.
Matilda Frances Lynch
Born in Pittsylvania County, near Danville, Virginia, Matilda Frances Lynch grew up in the midst of the civil rights era – she was about thirteen when Martin Luther King was assassinated. She didn’t really understand the implications of the assassination until her grandmother went to vote in the Kennedy/Nixon election and came back so exhilarated saying, “We’ve got the vote!”
Until she was an adult Frances didn’t know she and her 7 brothers and sisters were poor. In the tenth grade, she was transferred to a segregated high school, noting it was hard for some but she never experienced the hatred and meanness that others did, perhaps because of her conciliatory attitude. Of that time, she remembers though, that there were people in her family who moved to the north and were passing (as white people). “They were afraid. There were physical things happening to them and they were afraid.”
Frances lives life by her dad’s motto: “It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.” She would like to leave an imprint that says Matilda Frances was here. “If you see something that’s orderly and nice I’d want you to think, I bet Frances had something to do with that. I’d want you to think that.”
“It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.”
Cornelius Johnson
Cornelius Johnson is tall, slender and professionally dressed; he loves to laugh and is a self-described “people-person.” Cornelius was nine when he first entered the foster care system. He remembers hugging his drug-addict mom and abusive stepdad goodbye in the front yard of his home. He was excited to see his older brother, James, who’d entered foster care just three months earlier. “It was like a scene out of a movie, I was just waving out the back window of the car ‘cause I just thought I was going to spend the night somewhere.” Except for a few very brief encounters, Cornelius wouldn’t see his mother for another 14 years.
Four foster homes and 5 years in a group home saw Cornelius through high school. During those years he was abused both emotionally and physically. It was during the years leading up to high school where he found respite and love staying with a temporary foster mom during the group home’s holiday breaks. He considers his foster mom, Ms. Woods, his family and calls her “mom.” After high school Cornelius went to college in Norfolk and then left early to join the Navy. He credits those years in the Navy with much of his adult perspective.
It’s been a long journey for Cornelius to feel the self-confidence that he carries today. Cornelius mother’s uncle is his father; and he has a great deal of compassion for his mother who was only 13 or 14 years old when his uncle raped her. She was even younger when she had his biological brother the year before who was also a child of incest and rape. As a young adult, he developed relationships with both of his parents as well as his 4 younger step-siblings.
The father of six children between the ages of 17 and 10 (three of them are his step-children), Cornelius believes his role is to instill in his children the self-confidence that he never had growing up. knowing that having a supportive adult who will encourage and believe in them will positively impact their future.
“I didn’t have any confidence and no self-esteem. I was like a turtle, hiding my head.
I don't mind sharing now because I'm more confident and I believe that my testimony will help somebody.
It’s never too late to start. It’s only too late to start if you never start.
I can't take away anything that I've been through because I wouldn't be who I am today, you know.”
“It’s only too late to start if you never start.”
Nathalia Artus
Nathalia Artus grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil which, according to her, is like six New York cities piled on top of each other. She describes herself as high-energy and conservative but spending time with her, it’s easy to tell that Nathalia is also kind, intuitive, insightful and collaborative. She does believe sometimes that her Brazilian culture impedes her ability to be more respectful of other people’s personal space.
It was important to Nathalia that she become a U.S. citizen. She wanted to make sure that she would have the right to be active in her adopted country, to be able to vote and most importantly know that she would always be here for her husband and son. Her citizenship became final at a naturalization ceremony in July 2017. The process to citizenship was very cumbersome, complex and costly. The entire process took several years and as much as $11,000 for the attorneys who would help walk her through all the paperwork. The first time Nathalia heard the national anthem played after she became a citizen was at a Flying Squirrels game and she “sobbed like a baby because it was so emotional.”
She hopes that if she gives a piece of her story from the Latino community, that it will inspire more people to come out and give their piece of the story.
Derrick Billie
Derrick Billie’s philosophy of life can be summed up in just five words: Be positive and take chances. He’s a self-described technical nerd who loves his family and the adrenaline rush of extreme sports. Only as an afterthought does he add, “Oh, and I’m a black man of course.”
As a young man Derrick worked for a trucking company and his co-workers were racists, calling him “Billy Boy” ostensibly a play on his last name. When they refused to stop insulting him, he reported it to the HR department. The next week he was handed a pink slip saying his hours had been cut down from 40 per week to Saturdays only. And, yet, he saw that as a positive knowing that someday he’d have his dream career in IT and he wouldn’t have to suffer any longer in such a negative environment.
Besides Derrick’s beautiful dreadlocks and bright eyes, you notice the curiosity he has about everything around him. He grew up with an older generation who instilled the idea that white people couldn’t be trusted but his curiosity made him think, “they’re skin is just a different color, right?” That level of positivity and curiosity harkens back to how he was raised. His mom expected a level of maturity from Derrick so he wouldn’t end up like his older brothers – in and out of jail and prison.
The world has changed since Derrick’s childhood where the only white people he knew were the police officers who harassed him and his friends. And, even in the face of the current political climate and the #MeToo movement, Derrick likens the progress we’ve made as a society to the progress of technology: years ago it was terrible, but we’ve made great progress since then.
Derrick now has that IT job he dreamed of early on and he and his wife are raising two children to have the same drive, determination and positive spirit he has.
“I like to say that I don’t have bad days, but I do. I just push through them.
One of the greatest attributes that I can instill in my kids is positivity.
What you put out in the world comes back to you. Put out positivity – you get positive results.
Don’t be afraid to fail. I fail all the time. I just call it winning in reverse.”
