Jaz — See Me Because

I'm on a journey to figure out who I really am. I'm not too sure, but I have bits and pieces of ideas and I’m trying to put it all together. Finding yourself has its ups and its downs. Becoming more comfortable with who you truly are, and rediscovering pieces that were already there but were buried because of what other people say and do. Sometimes I’ll get stuck and wish this process would go by faster, but all good things take time, so I can't rush it. My mental health is important to me.

Family is really important to me. They’re people I can go to when I feel like there's nobody else there for me. They're people who have my back. They inspire me. My mom is caring and she loves doing things for me. For my birthdays she would throw these big parties. Even when I stopped having parties, for my 13th or 14th birthday, she did a countdown and I got a gift every day. She always has something big planned. It makes me feel very loved that she decides to go out of her way to do special things for me. I feel like within the African American community, specifically how Black parents and mothers connect with their children, can have such a big effect on them.

I have to have some sort of emotional bond to really connect with someone. I have to feel like they understand me and I understand them. When someone tells me about their past, how they grew up, I start to get a little bit emotional. That's when I feel like we're starting to get deep, sharing stories back and forth. I love that, making new bonds especially when they're emotional or on a mental level because I feel accepted…like we can heal together now.

I hate when people tell me, “Oh, you seem like such a quiet kid.” The only reason I'm quiet is because being around new people makes me anxious. My anxiety holds me back sometimes. I'm an overthinker and I'm not sure how to stop it, but I'm trying to overcome it. I try to tell myself, “ You're just imagining it. This is not really what's happening,” and try to just break those thoughts. I do try to step out of my comfort zone. As soon as I feel comfortable, I come out of my shell and show people who I truly am. I can be loud, Very fun and very energetic, but that first impression is always that I seem quiet.

I see myself as a very creative person, and someone who cares deeply about others. I want others to see me this way, and as somebody they can come to or work alongside, especially as a creative person. I'm interested in getting to know other people and understanding why they are the way they are. I’m open-minded. To me, being open minded means being open to hearing what other people have to say, listening to their ideas, and trying new things.

Most people create art to show a part of themselves. When I create music or art pieces, I want to express the person I really am, what inspires me, and another side of me that usually is more hidden away. I want to make things that speak to people and can help them. Someone else might be going through the same thing that I'm going through and they can find comfort in my art.I want people to know that there's somebody out there who’s also gone through the same things and they're never alone. That's my main passion.

I'm really focused when I’m creating art. I get into a whole different zone. I write poetry when I have an emotion that's heavy. For a while my main focus was nature photography. I only recently got back into drawing.I'm just now getting into writing music. Guitars are one of my favorite instruments, especially electric guitars. Often I think about being a music producer and being able to shoot and edit music videos, too. I like seeing how the theme of the song matches with the video.

I’ve always loved music. I grew up around people who love music and it’s been a big part of my life. I can't always find the exact words to explain how I'm feeling but listening to music helps. I like understanding why people write songs, why they say the things that they do, why they have a certain style. I’m very inspired by Summer Walker. I have a deep connection and history with her music. I was going through something and listened to one of her songs and it spoke to me. It led me to think about something deeper that was going on and discover something. It was like the universe was trying to tell me something. It brought me so much comfort. Now I feel like I understand this part of myself. I felt like I was alone and no one understood. She made me feel understood.

Gen Z is very misunderstood. Other generations think we’re lazy, we don't want to do any work and we don't want to have an impact on the world. Or it's always, “Oh, you're too young to feel this,” or “You can’t be stressed at this age”. Negative stereotypes can be very harmful. A lot of people in my generation are good people and creative people. We want people to see us and hear us for who we truly are instead of who they think we are. We want to make a change and be heard.

I'm not religious but I do believe in the power of the universe. We don’t know what’s out there and I believe that one of the reasons we exist is to find out more - to find out new things, to meet new people, to make an impact and change the world. As each generation moves on, we gain new things and we lose things. The world's always going to change. Ten years from now, the world is not going to be exactly the same. My biggest motivation is to make a difference along the way and tell my story.

Milwaukee, 2024