Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Raafe-Ahmaad Purnsley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Raafe-Ahmaad, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I grew up black southern and Christian, those traditions emphasized being the best one could and celebrating my thankfulness for the blessings and goodness God put in my life. A lot of that looked like learning, performing, and if anything celebrating through music, verse, and dance. It started with church choir and liturgical dance, then band, and of course learning and reciting scripture, the church is one of the ways in which black people taught, learned, and shared traditions, or built community. That was growing up. My family was also a bunch of geeks and nerds. It was the 90’s and tv was in a golden era, better representation, and Sci-fy was taking hold of the world. I also remember comedy being a large part of black celebrity and entertainment, so I absorbed so much from my siblings and mother, cousins, and aunts, especially my grandma. My family had a history of performers. As a closeted “sissy” school became the place where self expression outside of God could happen, and my outlets where band and acting. My self-esteem held me back, I never greatly invested in music outside of school as a path, I also wanted to pursue science for both a love of learning, but also because I wanted be successful and secure in my life and I put a lot of aspirations as a performer aside. As a came out in college and started to both learn more about myself and be comfortable expressing myself I found Stormie as an alter ego in the traditions of drag culture and I clung to the LGBTQ revival that was happening in the world. It wasn’t until after graduating and seeing another friend perform that I really became enamored with the idea of performance, and when Was fortunate to be discovered by Vivivca C Coxx I really knew I wanted my shot.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Stormie Daie is a Durham, NC local entertainer, educator, community organizer, and Drag Queen. A member of Durham’s foremost Drag Family, established by Vivica C. Coxx , is a predominately BIPOC and Trans run community group. As Stormie Daie I host, produce shows, organize talent, and fundraise, for the better part a decade. As the VP of my undergrads LGBTQ student group, I started organizing LGBTQ events and learning about LGBTQ history. I have always created occasions with a focus on education and entertainment. I believe in hiring local talent and community members, in an effort to push money into under represented communities and support local LGBTQ or BIPOC folk in my efforts. I formally started this work professionally under the advisement of Vivica C Coxx alongside of the House of Coxx, my drag family, where we had a focus on social justice emphasizing ideals of gender expansiveness, uplifting BIPOC and indigenous people, putting trans life first, and creating safe spaces for queer and bipoc people. We believe in paying people their worth and for their time as well . We as a troupe also focused on consent culture and creating safe spaces for queer community to gather. I work functionally as an entertainer, but with a focus on fundraising and educating. Since joining the family, I now work with the nationally recognized Drag Story Hour as a drag reader. I am an amateur local Durham and NC historian and teach on subjects like LGBTQ history and Drag as a for of activism. As well I have combined my background in Environmental and Ecological Science with my love of drag and create lessons to make science more engaging and applicable for marginalized groups. Stormie is a force of nature on or off stage and loves to teach science because science is everything, and everything is science. Joy, Community, and Learning are the three things anyone will receive at attending a Stormie Daie lead event, and are truly the only things other than love and good food that make life worth living.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Be thoughtful and creative in its intentions. We work towards what we value and we protect and promote those interest. We must recognize art makes life worth living. Art cost, because it takes living just to make it happen, and it isn’t a meager cost. We see this simply In the aesthetic choices cities make, or the pastimes we invest in and afford ourselves to spend time on. We need to be safe and warm, we want to be commutable and we desire to be entertained or mused, and that is art. It feeds our soul and it touches the things that are most hard to name in our own selves. In fact we often don’t name them, we just seek out the chance to feel or express them, and art allows for that. A society must be honest about that human desire and treat it with respect and uplift it by uplifting the people who allow for it to exist and those who make it happen, and as systems work that doesn’t just mean supporting artist but citizens. Providing access to health care, creating affordable housing,g making food accessible. If a society isn’t health art fades, it is the first to be removed when a community is under duress, whether by forcer or necessity, and it is the first thing. to return when times are safer, and it is the ting most desire when times are harder. Art is a symptom of a thriving, breathing, functioning, teeming system, not just a superfluous thing to covet.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Connecting with my community. Community is important, family can be that, community is often made up of families, a good community feels like a family and a healthy family functions like a healthy community. Collaboration or getting to exist in the same spheres as other artist is a big reason I love doing what I do. As well as connecting ideas and deals, simply drawing connections in my inspiration and making those ideas live through me on stage to as great as lending my talents to the support of orgs doing amazing work. That cooperative spirit of community and being able to aid my fellow neighbors or friends with my art, is priceless.
Contact Info:
- Website: stormiedaie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stormiedaie/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StormieChasers/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/stormiedaie?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_2YtoyqpmPhKqr-PFQeqqA
Image Credits
Photos in “Map Dress w/ Chair & Umbrella” Taken By: Stephanie Rose Photography Photos “Purple mermaid Gown in Nature” Taken by Cathi Bodine