From a young age, Aya was drawn to streetwear, opting for graphic t-shirts that were vulgar. “I think putting [these images] on a shirt is a way to make people aware of queer black women and what we look like in life through the gaze of Aya and not the typical white male gaze,” she said. In a culture where depictions of women, and especially black and queer women, are often centered around the gaze of cis white men, Aya’s drawings are a welcome change, presenting an accurate representation of the queer experience.Courtesy of MademeWhile some might think theMademe I posted a singing video when I was 12. That was my first video, so I didn’t have a following when I started doing that. I started building a following after that for a couple of years. Then I started getting into acting a little bit, making vlogs on YouTube, and the occasional singing video and that built as well. I wrote a song about John Green’s bookThe Fault In Our Stars Late journalist Gwen Ifill coined it the [“missing white woman syndrome”] (http://people.stu.ca/~mccormic/3263MEDIA/Missing%20White%20Woman%20Syndrome.pdf), referring to the swarms of media coverage of white, attractive women and girls from wealthier backgrounds. Well known cases such includingNatalee Holloway towards compromises that could possibly include aspects of what some might consider political pipe dreams, legitimizing progressive policy proposal in the process.