Precious Lee by Tyler Mitchell Is Committed to Uplifting Us in i-D No. 363 Summer 2021
/The confident determination of Precious Lee may well be bigger than her moment. Time will tell, but reading about Atlanta-raised Precious is an exploration of self-willed self-determination.
“Revolutions have ongoing, lasting, continuous effects. And my quote-unquote ‘moment’ is historical, and because of that, it will never be just a moment. It will always be an indelible part of this industry.” ~ Precious Lee
Photographer Tyler Mitchell, also from Atlanta, captures Precious Lee, styled by Carlos Nazario in Aliette, Area Couture 21, Lanvin, Little Five Vintage, Norma Kamali and more./ Hair by Latisha Chong; makeup by Jamal Scott
Precious chats with Marjon Carlos in the interview for i-D’s The New Worldwi-De Issue N. 363, Summer 2021. Order your copy here.
Key parts of Georgia’s Queen Precious’ story were revealed in her Harper’s Bazaar May Beauty issue.
AOC learned from i-D that Precious Lee is a certified level three breathworker. We don’t pretend to have the facts on this fascinating subject and refer readers onto the unaffiliated, global Breathwork Alliance for information. Chopra.com also features information on the benefits of breathwork
The i-D interview coincides with the April 11, 2021 murder of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old biracial Black man, was fatally shot by police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. At a time when registrations were experiencing COVID-delays in the Twin Cities suburb, a warrant for Wright’s arrest had been issued. (AOC says ‘No words’.)
Precious speaks to all that has happened in the world of American race relations in the recent past, but her response is to create alternatives to the imagery, telling i-D’s Carlos:
The trailblazing model is creating imagery to inspire – something that directly counters the narratives of death and violence that media has pushed to define the Black American experience – while still being deeply traumatised by the injustice. “I’ve never seen such consecutive visuals of us being executed, murdered,” Lee says. “And I just feel like because of that, and being able to still actually be a part of something that is creative and uplifting and to try to give people more access to something besides the pain that we’re dealing with and what we’re actually being dealt with… It’s a lot.”
Precious also references her ancestors as her spirit guides and, of course, her relationship with her God.
Whenever we read comments like these, we are reminded that Americans actually worship four main Gods as Christians. We haven’t yet added in God as worshipped in other faiths like Judaism or Islam. If you thought God as defined by Christianity is cut and dried, think again.
Trump voters and African Americans worship a different vision of God, which helps African Americans to process psychologically the seeming indifference of God to their suffering in America. Baylor University — home to this research about Americans views of God — has done significant research on Trump voters who believe in God #1 — an authoritarian God — and believe Trump is a messenger of God. These Americans want the US to be officially a Christian nation and they support authoritarian practice, not democracy.
‘America’s Four Gods’ by Paul Froese and Christopher Bader can be referenced on its own website where you can join well over 200,000 people over a decade ago when I promoted the website, in validating the research in the book by taking The God Test. This research is most fascinating, and I’m about to take the test again, to see if there are any major shifts in the totals from 2010-2011 when 225,000 people weighed in.