On Design: After Corey Damen Jenkins

Last night, I had the opportunity to continue my MasterClass studies with the interior design course of Corey Damen Jenkins. His work is lush, layered, textured and risky—much like our lives during this moment. He is masterful at articulating the elements of his decisions, letting us into his brilliant rationale for the use of various craft elements as he takes us from project to project. For these reasons alone, I highly recommend this course.

There is one moment toward the end of the course that has altered my life paradigm forever—and it has nothing, but really everything, to do with design. I must have watched those thirty seconds a dozen times on repeat, way into the night, taking in his words and the palpable force behind them. 

We are the designers of our lives, as well as the designers of the physical, emotional, and intellectual spaces we inhabit and claim. We would not exist today if our ancestors had not designed a life beyond their immediate, tangible reality; they manifested that power to emerge as lifeblood in us.  We walk into all spaces with our whole selves, with infinite opportunity and unlimited choices.  As a Black woman in America, I have felt the downward pressure imposed upon my possibilities.  I’ve often internalized and subsequently self-imposed those limitations, as much as my family worked relentlessly to minimize this phenomenon.  It is time to design my own exquisite chair of support, at a table that fits my needs and reflects my aesthetic, while reserving an edifying space for those with synergistic vision and joy.

Thank you, Corey Damen Jenkins—for your work, for your fortifying spirit, for your relentless commitment to holding open that elevator door for those of us who are sprinting around the corner and making that mad dash toward ascent. 

May our collective work continue and thrive.