As a designer, I am expected to commodify myself.

Traditionally, this space is used to assess my value through pixels, presentations, and perfectly-worded paragraphs paraphrasing my process. It expects me to digitally break myself and put myself back together again with every iteration, polished and cleaner than before.
‍
But as a person, especially a Black woman in this space, I am skeptical and critical of this expectation.  

Because I habitually move between spaces demanding more of me than they are willing to give, I am acutely aware of how inequitable this cyclical process can be. While I cannot change it, I can change how I relate to it. And I'd like to believe there's a space, where this version of a portfolio, the one sharing fragments of how I think, illustrate, and design, is enough for at least a conversation.