Photographed by Mel D. Cole
This June we celebrate Pride and Juneteenth, two holidays that employ and embrace strength in the face of injustice. Pride is a holiday that triumphs celebratory love and Juneteenth, the oldest national holiday commemorating emancipation from slavery in the United States honors Black culture, achievements and the freedom to be.
At Stashed, we’re celebrating Black Queer creatives who are trailblazers in the creative industry, whose stories are awe-inspiring.
“When I’m coming to DJ a party, I’m here to set you free.” DJ Freedem
This is DJ Freedem’s mission statement, and he’s here to shake up the room and get charged up while doing so. DJ Freedem is a renowned DJ who got into DJing on the advice of some friends, and has been the life of the party ever since.
Photographed by Mel D. Cole
DJ Freedem’s work is intentional and striking. He has over 53,000 followers on his Instagram account who are keenly attuned to his plants, fashion looks, mirror selfies, and activism.
He is also the founder of The Underground Plant Trade, a reparations network that seeks to connect white people with plants to Black people in need of plants.
According to the website, many of the benefits that plants offer Black people is that they provide a way to be rerooted to the earth and nature, and being around plants offers improved relaxation, decreased anxiety, increased attentiveness, and more.
It all started off with a viral tweet from Freedem, which stated “If you’re white give a Black person a plant this instant” which gained significant traction on the internet. The tweet’s gigantic response led Freedem to set up the website. The network officially celebrated its first anniversary on June 6.
“I’m definitely going to be in this era for a while.” – DJ Freedem
