An Unapologetic Artist on the Mindset Of Slavery & Setting Herself Free: Gabrielle Ledet 

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“I can just talk? Say what I want? Cool,” says artist Gabrielle Ledet with a warm grin as she settles in for our interview, draped in an oversized denim shirt with “White People Stop Stealing Our Shit” hand-painted across the back. The button-down is Gabrielle own design and it, like a lot of her work-- slogans illustrated on clothes, walls, even her beat-up Kia Rio-- is the culmination of a long journey, both artistic and personal. Growing up, Gabriele recounts being bullied at school about her dark brown skin, so much so that she attempted to physically scrub it off and ended up with sores on her face. It wasn’t until an aunt explained to her that skin was “chocolate and cute” that she began to see the fullness of her being, exactly as it was, as beautiful. Her discovery of Basquiat, too, deeply affected her self-perception. “To see him in the way he dressed, he was unapologetic with everything. He just did it. I had never seen a black person as free and as abstract as him.” Now, Gabriele sees her work and her liberation as not only an act of self love, but also as an example for other kids who look like her. “We live in America. It’s racist as fuck,” she says with her characteristic lucidity and a twinkle in her eye. “Either we’re gonna talk about the racism, or we’re gonna create something beyond this shit.”
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Thank you to Ace Hotel New Orleans for providing us with a location to film Tank’s episode!
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StyleLikeU is led by mother-daughter duo Elisa Goodkind and Lily Mandelbaum, who are bound by the desire to uncover what’s underneath personal style. Through candid, docu-style interviews with empowered individuals, StyleLikeU is building a world where getting dressed each morning is an act of self-love.
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