We recently had the chance to connect with JAC MICHEL and have shared our conversation below.
JAC, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: Who are you learning from right now?
This is a beautiful question. I am learning from the people in Gaza, Palestine. They teach us Life. Over 700 days of genocide and they are still alive. They hold onto their faith and humanity in ways we on the outside have never seen before. They are starving and exhausted, surrounded by death and yet they continue to live. This is a testament of their humanity. They encourage me to use my voice, use my resources and to never stop advocating for peace and freedom for all.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jackie/JAC. I am a first generation American Muslim. I am a queer, disabled and autistic artist and anti-war/peace organizer. I had a cotton candy company for seven years in Durham, NC. Then life put me in the fetal position and I had to start all over again. After closing my business and making some intense grown up decisions so I may stay alive, I found myself in Gaza, Palestine. Witnessing a live stream genocide awakens your humanity, the call and response was invoked. I became a mutual aid girly for families in Gaza.
I started to give all of my life to help keep families alive during the most brutal timeline we have ever been in. As world leaders divest in our communities worldwide, we the people are the ones that ultimately keeps us alive.
This year I started a new business. I turned my cotton candy into herbal floral teas using sugar and extracts as simple syrups to sweeten organic teas for the community. The money I raise, mostly goes to the families we are in constant communication with in Gaza.
When I’m not brewing tea or raising money for Gaza, I’m out on the streets raising the Palestinian flag and encouraging the public to open their eyes and hearts. Living in a nation that has deeply normalized individualism, I am grateful to live in a city of Love and Unity.
We do everything with humanity in mind and we encourage folks to do the same.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Being a Black autistic woman, I often feel things very deeply and intensely than others around me. When I was younger, I used to cry all the time. I still do. Now I use my tears as an anchor towards my humanity. I allow myself to feel all my feelings and move through them with art and music and nature. The grown ups in my family are very playful and kid like, especially my father and his family. I get my expressions from him and this has always been a wonderful to connect with people.
In the fifth grade, I was nominated funniest girl in my grade. This gave me permission to be my full authentic self around my peers and though I cried a lot, I also laughed a lot and made others laugh too.
Now, I get to be a big tender hearted kid. I’ve always appreciated freedom of expression. Though I came from a religious household, I made sure to wear the colors of the rainbow. My favorite colors to wear are bright pink and orange alongside a face dipped in glitter!
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
TAKE UP SPACE JAC. TAKE UP SPACE.
BE LOUD. STAY LOUD.
USE ALL THE CRAYONS IN THE CRAYON BOX!
WEAR ALL THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW!
TAKE UP SPACE JAC! TAKE UP ALL THE SPACE!
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
YES indeed. One of the great things about being an adult on the spectrum is that who you are in public is exactly who you are in private. I come as I am wherever I go because this is the best way to live in my body. How I show up in public is how I move when I am alone. I am intense, politically driven, a caretaker, a dreamer, an artist, a healer and avid community member. I do my best to live within my values all day, everyday. This encourages people to do the same.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
This is a wonderful question. I feel most at peace when I have completed big campaigns for our families in Gaza, Palestine. Asking the public for money everyday can feel redundant and not productive but when people in genocide ask for your help and you give them what they need, though it is never enough, there is a huge sense of relief. Like I can breath and take a break and recharge so I can go back to the masses and advocate for our families.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: wonderpuff
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jac-m-67b578251/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Wonderpuff
Image Credits
Lama Wafa took the photos of me wearing the black rose blouse!
Camille Hues took the photos of the cotton candy!
Rest of the images were taken by me.
