Janelle Monáe

Inspired By Pecola Breedlove; Genesis 3:16, Genesis 9:20-27, and Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13; the Zong slave ship; the corded virgin belts in Ancient Rome; and the secret prisons and detention facilities in Chechnya.

Inspired by the vibranium in Wakanda, wild mushroom tea parties in Mexico, and the notion that true freedom also comes from "the right to be wrong, at least occasionally," see Mary Beard’s pronouncement in WOMEN & POWER: "It is not just that it is more difficult for women to succeed; they get treated much more harshly if they mess up."

Inspired by Eve in the Garden of Eden, Bilquis the Queen of Sheba in American Gods, Marlene Clark in Ganja & Hess, and Scheherazade in Arabian Nights.

Inspired by my terrifying nightmare about a near-future America full of abductions and secret detention centers--oddly like our own.

Inspired by the dismal morning of November 9, 2016, and Gloria Steinem's tearful quote "I'm just tired of being screwed, and being screwed by my friends," in the Shirley Chisholm documentary Unbought and Unbossed.

Inspired by the Dora Milaje in Black Panther.

Inspired by Prince's mischievous smile as he played organ on "Hot Thang" and watched Cat Glover shimmy across the stage in "Sign O' The Times" and by Kali, Sheela Na Gig, Isis, Sheba, Athena, Medusa, Mary and all the Mothergoddess sculptures and paintings in pyramids, churches and castles around the world; midnight conversations and debates about The Great Cosmic Mother ; insights from The Vagina by Naomi Wolff, and Interior Scroll by Carolee†Schneemann† and the calligraphy of Sun Ping; and Paul Simonon's quote that "pink is the only true rock n' roll color."

Inspired by THE WOKER (who appears in the Dirty Computer Emotion Picture courtesy of
id Entertainment).

Inspired by the world-shaking visions of Wangechi Mutu and the glistening Mothership hanging on the top floor of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

Inspired by wack ass fuckboys everywhere (from the traphouse to the White House) who make the lives of little brown girls so damn hard. Like they told ya'll back in those Black Women's studies classes...BUT SOME OF US ARE BRAVE...

Inspired by the backstage revelations and home conversations with
Steveland Morris.

Inspired by those vulnerable moments of in between. In between the moment you text something naughty and forbidden to them and the three replying dots appear to linger forever while you wait for the answer and your stomach curls into a ball... In between what you say publicly and what you do privately... in between the face in the red carpet photo and the face in the mirror... in between what America says about freedom but then actively does to me and my brothers and sisters...in between my mama and my loved ones and the way I live and love in my new life.

Inspired by The Walk and the Nevermind gas at the House of the New Dawn.

Inspired by Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech delivered on March 18, 2008 in Philadelphia, further inspired by Quincy Jones' quote in GQ (February 2018): "if you're black, that's what you get used to in America...anger doesn't get anything done, so you have to find out: How do you make it work? That's why I was always maniacal about transforming every problem into a puzzle which I can solve. I can solve a puzzle—a problem just stresses me out."