TheBraidBoy
"This is a new kind of brotherhood. These are our diaries..."
- Matthew Draughter, Poet & Producer
diary, no. 14-
Feel Yo'self with Rondell Bob
Rondell Bob, DPT, He/Him
Doctor of Physical Therapy & Personal Trainer
New Orleans, La
Diary, No. 14 is all about Rondell Bob, DPT & his confidence. Matty talks to Rondell about his life as an openly gay man who's embraced his balding process throughout his young adult years. We also tap into Rondell's sense of self-assurance and talk about the importance to self-care and authentic relationships as we dissect his views on black masculinity. Listen to the full episode wherever you pod & watch the full episode on Youtube.
Follow Rondell on Insta! @dell_ligtful
diary, no. 13-
Lala Land with Taylor Nevels
Taylor Nevels, He/Him
Influencer & Content Creator
Los Angeles, CA
Diary, no. 13 swings us back to the West Coast to talk to Taylor Nevels, Teacher's Assistant, Entrepreneur and Musician. Matty catches up with Taylor about his recent experiences working in education, what it’s like to show up for young students of color today, and how the experience is different from attending Howard University. We tackle the idea of manhood, and get an in-depth look into his family, growing up in California, and how all these moments impacted him to growing out his hair today.
Follow Taylor on Insta! @tjnevels
diary, no. 12-
On the Outside with Quincy Jay
Quincy Jay, He/Him
Influencer & Content Creator
New York City, NY
Diary, No. 12 is an episode full of laughs. Matty Draughter catches up with Quincy Jay, Personal Trainer & Influencer, for an in-depth conversation on growing up Bi-Racial & Gay, what relationships with Barbers can look like for Queer men of color, and the importance of self identification. We also dig into his Influencer career & family, as he explains how he learned to find self-confidence; and, of course, we had to have a moment for the Lambily.
Follow Quincy on Insta! @wicomeva
diary, no. 11-
11:Eleven with Karlito Payton
Karl Payton, He/Him
Hair Stylist
New York City, NY
Diary, No. 11 (:Eleven), is all about hair. In an in depth interview with hair stylist, Karlito Payton, we joce about hair from the technician's perspective. We see how Karl's life growing up in the salon shaped his passion for hair & self care; how his 11 years in the industry helps him navigate working with major clients like Harper's Bazaar & HBO, and breakdown the social confines of image and style that LGBTQIA+ men of color still dissect today.
Follow Karl on Insta! @hsbk_
diary, no. 10-
KTSE with ANTWIGADEE
ANTWIGADEE, He/Him
DJ/Experience Creator
New Orleans, LA
Diary no. 10 is all about "Keeping That Same ENERGY." We joce with long time friend, frat brother, and DJ, ANTWIGADEE about his DJ career, ties to New Orleans, and creating space for people through musical experiences. We also get into his hair journey, how life has influenced his views on style, and the essence of blackness. ANTWIGADEE also shares a snippet of one of his last DJ sets from his residence, ENERGY!
Follow ANTWIGADEE on Insta! @antwigadee
diary, no. 9-
Muva of the House with Kamelle Mills
Kamelle Mills, He/Him
Fitness Influence/ Life Coach
San Jose, CA
Diary, no. 9 is all about community. We sit down with Kamelle Mills, Fitness Influencer & LGBTQ+ Advocate, to talk about confidence through hair exploration, the importance of chosen family, RENAISSANCE, & Black Love. Kamelle is currently the founder of PROFOUNDations, a non-profit for LGBTQ+ POC, and ENBEYES, a new Production company. Listen to our kiki and see how my gay muva's knowledge has inspired me over the years. Our conversation is reunion unlike any other.
Follow Kamelle on Insta! @kamellemills
diary, no. 8-
Outta the Archives with Juanthousand
Keijuan Jacobs "Juanthousand," He/Him
Recording Artist/Musician
New Orleans, LA
Diary, no.8 is straight outta the archives with Juanthousand. For this episode, Keijuan Jacobs joins us for a conversation about #manhood and the creative process of his #music. We walk through Keijuan’s life, from his journey through Louisiana to his musical projects, where he drops knowledge on how his hair journey has impacted his life and influence as a man and father.
Follow Juanthousand on Insta! @juanthousandd
diary, no. 7-
Out of the Archives with Aha Gazelle
Aha Gazelle, He/Him
Recording Artist
New Orleans, LA
Diary, no.7 is special because it's out of our archives from the past. For this episode, Aha Gazelle joins us for a conversation about maturity. Hear his story about how he came up through Louisiana & how his hair has impacted his life and influenced his career. He also drops some knowledge on adulting, his latest projects and maturity.
Follow Aha on Insta! @ahagazelle
diary, no. 6- new crown, new confidence with Benjamin C. Fields
Benjamin C. Fields, He/Him
Financial Service Professional & Business Manager
New Orleans, LA/New York, NY
Episode 6 is still in the brother talks. For this diary, we chop it up with Benjamin C. Fields. He's a financial services professional, business manager, one of the youngest board members of Loyola New Orleans' Board of Trustees, and my frat brother.
During our talk, we get into Ben's personal growth: how he's learned to define manhood from being a PK to an adult, his understanding of blackness through numerous experiences & his journey with balding at a young age and how he turned that into a source of confidence over time.
Follow Ben! @bencf
diary, no. 5- mr. computer luv
Joshua Green, He/Him
Student at XULA & Microsoft Intern
New Orleans, LA
Episode 5 and the next few episodes are going to be all about brothers. Literally. For this diary, we open up with Matthew Draughter's younger brother, Joshua Green. Josh is currently a junior at Xavier University New Orleans studying computer science with a second internship at Microsoft underway. Sit in on our joce where we discuss our hair journeys, what college can be like for black men at the end of a panny, and ultimately, how we learned to define unconditional love after living in a toxic space for most of our childhood.
Follow Josh! @joshgetsgreen
diary, no. 4- the last black man in san francisco
Drexston Redway, Visual Designer
He/Him
San Francisco , CA
Diary, no. 4 is all about Drexston Redway, Visual Designer at Square. During our episode, we catch up with Drex about what it's like growing up Jamaican-American, using haircare as a form of self-care, and mostly, what it feels like being the last Black man in San Francisco. We'll also explain why I decided to dye my hair blue in the middle of Season 1.
Follow Drex! @drexredway
diary, no. 3- from hustle to flow feat. mr. stewart
Tremayne Stewart, VP of Product Architecture
He/Him
Jamaica
"Blackness is the shared experience of how [you’re] seen in the world."
Diary, no. 3 is all about Tremayne Stewart, a longtime friend and VP of Product Architecture at Hio Social. We get deep into Tre's roots from Jamaica to New York, dissect trauma hustles & family, all while getting to the root of being a nomad in this day and age with hair. And ultimately, Tre's convo brings us back full circle as we think about how we define blackness & masculinity through his experiences in the Bay Area and across the world.
Follow Tre! @_thesingleton
diary, no. 2- thee successful sam loid
Sam Loid, Mucisian
He/Him
New Orleans, LA
"diary, no. 2" is all about taking chances. Sam Loid joins the diaries with his perspective on growing out his hair as a New Orleanin who's been tranaplanted in different spaces. Sam discusses his awakening and so much more through his 3+ year journey. View Sam's gallery & listen to his episode!
Follow Sam! @thesamloid
diary no. 1- mr. locks unboxed
Quentin Cola, Music Producer
He/Him
New Orleans, LA
@qoladidthat
Momma I made it and I'm terrified
by Quentin Cola
In "diary no.1," we meet Quentin Cola, Music Producer & Hardware Engineer who shares his story of growing out his hair through his process of adulthood. Make sure to read Quentin's poem, "Momma I made it and I'm terrified" below.
I did everything right: stayed in school, paid attention in class, got good grades, high test scores, played sports, picked up an instrument. I was a people person, always thought to have a certain charm. I had all of, what we thought to be, the skills needed for a black man to be successful in America.....and it worked.
I got into one of the top HBCU in the country, in one of the hardest fields, Computer Engineering. Everyone telling me “You’re doing so well for yourself man”, or “You’re gonna be set”. I can’t act like I wasn’t looking forward to the money, but that wasn’t my primary reason for this. I genuinely like what I do.
To say college was a struggle would be a very conservative description. I learned so much about myself and how to push myself to be what I know I can be. I learned how to take the necessary steps toward my success. There was literally blood, sweat and tears poured into this endeavor.....and it all paid off.
I got my degree in 4.5 years. Got two years paid for. And I got hired by one of the biggest tech companies in the world. I moved across country into an apartment by myself to begin my career as a young black engineer.
Momma I made it, I really made it...
...and I’m terrified
I’m terrified because I still feel the need to smile and be pleasant to my un-melanated counterparts to make them feel like I’m unarmed.
I’m terrified because I still get followed by lurking eyes when I make a late night run to the grocery to get sugar for my coffee in the morning
I’m terrified because a shared laugh with my fellow black engineers midday at a Fogo de Chão might be considered unruly and riotous
I’m terrified because I might be seen as gang affiliated just for wearing red shoes that complement the Polo man on my shirt
I’m terrified because at any moment I can be said to have “fit the description”
I used to to think that being black was somewhat of a burden. To have to work twice as hard to get half as far. I was pushed to even exceed that so that I could possibly no longer have to deal with some of these hardships. Then it hit me...the fact that we have accomplished everything that we have is the exact reason why we deal with the things that we do. I’ve had to learn that my melanin is a God-given gift and how to have pride in it. I’ve witnessed the greatness that we are capable of. From medical and technical feats to our prowess in the athletic arena. I have also seen what all I can do and I know there has to be more where that came from because of those that came before...
...but I’m terrified because America knows too and they see it as a threat. They know our blackness makes us so powerful that they see us as a threat. So much so, they’re willing to do do whatever it takes to stop us...to kill us.
I wonder what would happen if we all truly understood how much power we had