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Melanin + Curves + Scars

Melanin + Curves + Scars is a collection of images and conversations that address societal and workplace expectations around body image, performance, and mental health. Keri encourages you to use these images as conversation starters in your classrooms, organizations, with friends, and with colleagues. She encourages you to think critically about the myths behind these standards and she can work with you to empower Black culture, leadership, and wellness.

I would fight for my liberty so long as my strength lasted.

Harriet Tubman
Keri Gray in a silver skirt, black and white shirt, and black jacket. She is posing against a pole with a park/water in the background.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
April 15, 2020

Boldly

Boldly Give to the world boldly. Give to the world freely. Give to the world unashamed of who you are.  What is your message?  What is your art?  Who are you and what do you stand for?  In our youth, who we are is constantly evolving. But if we do not define ourselves then others will take that privilege. Don’t…
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Love1
Photo of Keri wearing gray striped pants, a black cut off shirt, and a mustard coat. She is leaning against a pole with a red and blue brick wall in the background.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
March 1, 2020

The Audacity of Our Advocacy

Organizing takes a radical execution of self love and love for others.  If you take a close look, that mark you see on my belly is not my belly button. It's actually a scar from a feeding tube I had as a kid (due to cancer) that I often cover up.  I made a lot of decisions growing up around…
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Love0

You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.

Michelle Obama
Photo of Keri Gray in a mustard shirt, brown skirt and long twists. She is standing in a very green setting of grass and hills.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
February 15, 2020

The Chance to Earn My Way

One necessity in my dreams of liberation is the ability to earn respect and opportunities. My skins boils when I think of the doors slammed in our faces without the person even hearing us out.  I think of my students and the stories they’ve told me about the moments they knew they wouldn’t get the job or they would not…
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Love0

I find freedom sexy. I find freedom so sexy, I can’t even explain it to you. You wake up every day and feel like you can do anything.

Prince
Photo of Keri wearing an orange shirt, white pants, and green and orange headwrap. She appears to be in an office with a large glass window with a couple of building in the background.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
December 15, 2019

Dreams Worth Acting Upon

Sometimes I find a good spot and just dream about a transformative society. I dream about office spaces filled with afros, dreadlocks, real talk, street talk, hip hop as elevator music, naturally loud voices, and aggression that’s not violent but confidence. I think of my students and their inculpable aspirations to be great.  But I always remember that our hopes…
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Where there is no vision, there is no hope.

George Washington Carver

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any

Alice Walker
Keri Gray in a red cut off shirt, red pants, sunglasses and a tan scarf. She is standing against a rail and blurred building are in the background.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
November 1, 2019

MLK Dreams

I’m constantly thinking about the dream. Dreams that are bold enough to envision our communities and businesses to be inclusive of ALL people. A dream that still calls for us to examine the content of our character and skillset rather than have preconceived notions about our melanin, curves, and crip walks.  In this year, I hope we bring back the…
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I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false and to incur my own abhorrence.

Frederick Douglass
Photo of Keri Gray speaking on a stage. She is wearing a black leather skirt, a white and black shirt, tan heels and long twists.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
October 1, 2019

How much do I share? How much do I hide?

On the job, must I hide my curves and my fro and my prosthetic scars? Can I bring the melanin of my culture AND the slower limp in my walk to work? Though not discussed enough, these are questions that young professionals ask every time they have a job interview or when they move to elevate their careers.  How much…
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Love0

There are two kinds of worries—those you can do something about and those you can’t. Don’t spend any time on the latter.

Duke Ellington
Photo of Keri Gray and she appears to be talking. She is sitting in a white chair, wearing a red romper, and a black headwrap.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
September 1, 2019

Explorations

We will encounter evidence at an early age that supports our insecurities- ie ableism at the intersections of racism & sexism. But still, I began to imagine a place and people that saw my Black disabled womanhood as magic. I began to explore the beauty of my body, my thoughts and experiences instead of hide them.  Build your confidence up.…
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When I liberate myself, I liberate others. If you don't speak out ain't nobody going to speak out for you.

Fannie Lou Hamer
Keri Gray sitting on a couch in a white sweater, multicolored sweater jack and blue jean headwrap.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
August 15, 2019

Bravery

When organizing for concepts like freedom and inclusion your opponents will use every scare tactic possible to silence your bravery. I had to make a conscious decision that I believe in the power and beauty of Black people more than becoming submissive to the struggles.
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Love0

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.

Arthur Ashe
Keri Gray sitting on a couch with a brick wall behind her. She is wearing a black shirt that says Black women down the front, jeans, and a blue jean headwrap.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
August 1, 2019

What Do You Stand For?

Just a reminder to be bold and confident in everything you do. Show us who you are and what you stand for.  Me personally- I stand for young professionals that hustle for better days and profitable opportunities. I stand for folks that have physical and emotional #scars all along their bodies but they’re unafraid to turn their experiences into testimonies…
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Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.

Dr. Mae Jamison

It’s up to you to bring yourself to the attention of powerful people around you. They’re not going to find you on their own.

Richard Parsons
Keri Gray in a white tank top and white lace panties. Her back and booty is the focus of the image with a clear view of her right prosthetic leg.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
July 1, 2019

Keri’s Scars

Keri’s Scars Show this to every Black girl and woman you know. They need to see me. They need to see this level of representation so there is some example of pride.  So they know our fros, our curves, and our scars all exist simultaneously.  So they can made confident decision in who they are.  So they can believe in…
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It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.

Lena Horne
Keri Gray sitting in an office with a notepad and pen in her hand. She is wearing black leather pants and a black and white sweater.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
June 15, 2019

Present

When I was first starting out as a student in college, I joined every organization that sounded even remotely interesting. I didn’t exactly know my value, but I was hungry to give and to be a part of something great. What I didn’t realize was that I was engaging in one of the first essential components of organizing, and that’s…
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Love0

Have a vision. Be demanding.

Colin Powell
Keri Gray sitting in a mustard chair with large bookshelves behind her. She is wearing white pants, a gray sweater with a black animated photo of a woman with a large afro and glasses, and a blue jean headwrap.
Melanin + Curves + Scars
June 1, 2019

Hard Truths

In your work, you will be expected to make tough decisions on how to proceed. You’ll be asked, what should we do next? Is this working? Who on your team is not pulling their weight? But what happens when you see your colleagues going in the wrong direction and your perspective has not been requested? In fact, you doubt they…
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