Few people have touched my soul as tenderly as Jeffrey Williams. From late-night cross-continental FaceTimes to voice notes full of support and encouragement, the friendship Jeffrey and I have cultivated is a testament to the very real connections that can form across cyberspace. Jeffrey Williams is a designer, stylist and creative director whose visions of beauty are made manifest most regularly on the bodies of musical duo Lion Babe. We begin our conversation with Jeffrey’s memories of childhood and late mother — a person Jeffrey describes as a beautiful, kind woman who helped Jeffrey understand how to listen and love. We discuss Jeffrey’s life-changing years in Italy, embracing our fears, the mantras Jeffrey uses to survive and, of course, spirituality, creativity and finding beauty within ourselves and in the world. Jeffrey is a spiritual and beautiful wonder in a world in desperate need of more people like Jeffrey. 

This conversation was recorded in New York City during World Pride 2019. Thank you to the team at Acast NYC for all your help.

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Jeffrey Williams is a designer, stylist and creative director. Follow Jeffrey on Instagram to be dazzled and enchanted.

http://www.jeffreycwilliams.com/

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@_busybeingblack is the podcast exploring how we live in the fullness of our queer Black lives. If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe; doing so lets others like us hear the voices amplified here. #busybeingblack

Thank you to our partners, UK Black Pride and BlackOut UK.

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New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival, New Fest, is coming up from October 23-29. The festival features over 160 films from more than 30 countries and promises to be a week of queer cinematic excellence. Busy Being Black listeners get discounted tickets on all screenings. Head to newest.org/festival and use the code NFCP19. 

Author Marcellas Reynolds has released his new book, SUPREME MODELS: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionised Fashion. It's the first-ever book celebrating black top models, and is filled with revealing essays, interviews, and stunning photographs. https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/supreme-models_9781419736148/# 

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