Though I could not have articulated it back then [as a child], not even to myself, my fixation on fashion went deeper than mere aesthetics. I sensed that clothing was a potent signifier -- that its import went beyond its visual appeal. Later I would come to understand that the finery donned by Black churchgoers was a powerful form of resistance. Many of them were employed during the week as domestic servants, or security guards, or custodians, and were required to wear uniforms meant to reinforce their status as less-than. To dress impeccably and regally on the Lord's day, then, was to insist on their own dignity and worth in a world that sought to systematically strip them of both. It was a way to assert that they were God's children too, and in His house, they would adorn themselves in a manner befitting the glory of the Lord!
-- Billy Porter, Unprotected, p. 2
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