Lil Mama Talk

            I went to the Lil Mama talk, an on campus guest speaker panel. The panel had Lil Mama and two professors asking questions about herself and her history. Lil Mama, Niatia Kirkland, is an actress, model, and rapper. Throughout the panel she talked about her background, talked about fashion, and many of her talents. Lil Mama grew up in Harlem, New York in a lower income family. Her mother was her biggest inspiration for fashion wise since her mother always wore nice clothes and became a role model for her since her mother always got what they needed, despite being lower income. Her mother went to different stores and got cheaper clothes and combining them to make amazing outfits. Another part of her history was joining street dance groups and gaining experience from those groups, and being tough. Audience interaction happened a lot, first happening with Lil Mama asking the audience “what is fashion?” She responded how fashion can change your life in 2 seconds, basing this on first impressions matter. Not a lot of techniques were disclosed, just how combining your history in to representing who you are will show off in your fashion. Lil Mama backs this up with history of her an abrasive side to her since she grew up having to be tough, and she uses this in her fashion to be bold and have bold colors in her clothing. Fashion is another form of graphic design and shows how important fashion is in our normal lives, being able to connect through clothing.

            I arrived pretty early to this panel, they were still getting things organized and testing out the presentation. There was also a guitar player practicing in front of the small crowd. The guitar player accompanied Lili Mama’s arrival with a song, which was very well sung .When Lil Mama arrived, she made everyone sit in the front row of seats, making sure everyone can be heard and get a good viewing stance. I personally didn’t know who Lil Mama was before this event, but afterwards I know who she is, how she got there, and what an amazing person she is. When she started to tell about her history, I was amazed how she transformed herself coming from a low income background to this well known multi-talented person. She did inspire me to know some what about fashion and to dress to impress since it is true your first impression anywhere has to be good. Majority of her speaking time was done by telling stories about how we connect over fashion and explaining how we do so. Through aesthetics, colors, and simply matching clothes. She also explained how there is an internet in physical space where we are all connected someway by something, and fashion is one of the connectors. Near the end of the presentation and talk, there was a Q and A which students lined up to ask questions. Some of the questions were about how Lil Mama maintains a routine schedule while having so much to do. She responded about how she returns to a hobby that grounds her, be it drawing or just talking to friends. One of the professors asked Lil Mama her views on working in a male dominated industry, Lil Mama explained that she pushes her way into the light, showing that she can do the job. She also explained how men showed help women to be noticed by just listening and being there for females. Throughout this talk I learned a lot about Niatia and how she pushed into this industry, and some of her life lessons to take away from her history. Dress to impress, slow down, and build people up, all of it will come back to you in some point in life. Lil Mama was a fantastic speaker and is an amazing person. I am now going to look more into her work.