Poeticize Your Presence: A Family Tradition

This is my grandfather (centre), photographed in 1943 with Eleanor Roosevelt.

He had travelled from Nigeria to America to pursue his dream of earning a degree from Columbia University — a bold, near-impossible goal at the time.

His elders advised him to dress modestly, to blend in, to avoid drawing attention in a new and unfamiliar land.

He did the opposite.

He attended Columbia dressed in shimmering fabrics and traditional regalia.

He didn’t try to disappear.

He chose to be seen.

He Poeticized His Presence.

That choice caught the attention of the then–First Lady of the United States — and more importantly, it reminded him of who he was.

This is what I mean when I say style is more than clothing.

It’s memory.

It’s magic.

It’s your narrative, made visible.

What you wear matters far less than why you wear it — and whether it reflects who you truly are.

Your aesthetic isn’t a costume.

It’s your declaration.

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When have you ignored the rules and honoured your soul’s voice instead?

Let me know in the comments.