i was intentional at age 13 about acquiring old things and then researching their value and the reasons why they were created the materials that were used and the people who put so much
house crafters, energy and effort and time into creating these objects and i find that in my study of vintage, i always came across goods that you know had a european
connection and a european so-called origin and very rarely was that ever connected more broadly to people of color of the globe. the retail space that we've created at nomad yard is really an environment to have honest conversation about world culture and also to pay homage to the people who have contributed so generously to our
understanding of art, our understanding of aesthetic and design. it's a really interesting time to be here. when we opened in 2014, we were the first small business you know on new york avenue after many, many years of neglect. i was told by many that i was silly for opening a business in this part of the
you know of the city, but also my understandings of the history of this neighborhood is truly what important my decision. the original union market, also known as the florida avenue market, had been this mecca for small business, particularly minority owned businesses, african-american businesses, immigrant
businesses. understanding that that marketplace you know that marketplace that existed literally supported and funded and fed and you know contributed so richly to this larger city, to dc proper, and your surrounding communities. i've have largely been inspired by my life journeys. i was born in freetown, sierra leone and
immigrated to the states at age seven in 1989 and prior to my immigrating to the united states, we lived in various countries in northern africa and europe and south america and those experiences exposed me to a broader world culture and just understanding of world goods and craftsmanship and tradition. becoming undocumented in this
country was the first time that you know i had to accept that there were people who in their understandings believe that i did not belong wow my spirit felt at home here in fact my spirit feels at home every land that i set my foot upon and that's largely due to my understanding of ownership of myself and the bloodline
that i am a part of. i was detained for six months and i was in solitary confinement for two of those months and there's no justification to place me in solitary confinement and largely to place any immigration detainee in solitary confinement; no justification whatsoever, but it happened and i can say this
it happens every single day. my case was won after seven years a seven-year fight on the premise that my human rights were being violated in fact, i was awarded a united nations sanction called convention against torture, deemed that the united states- what the united states was doing to me was indeed the defined as torturous. my time in
solitary confinement informed what we now know as nomad yard. the vision for the space came to me during that time. i felt that i had much to contribute to this country and i was doing that in some capacities you know in my twenties and i had to re-imagine and re-envision what that would look like now. i celebrated my 30th birthday in solitary confinement
so i now hade to reimagine what that would look like in my thirties and forward if i could go back to that time and offer any words to myself to my then self, it would be in truth that you're equipped and that's all. and i say that because i wouldn't change the
circumstances
instead i would have had more belief that whatever came, i could endure because i was fully equipped and i know that now
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