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SisterFace

@sisterface

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Facilitator · Cultural Curator · Diva Advocate
Storyteller · Artist · Designer of Kaftans & Custom Creations
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DC:LAND — 03
The CIGNEL Apprenticeship

Before the lightning bolt over Tracks electrified Washington D.C., there was a dark sanctuary in Baltimore called CIGNEL.

That’s where many of us first learned who we really were.

Long before I was SisterFace… before the Washington nights, the epic sound systems, and the dance floors that felt like cathedrals… there was Baltimore. There was a crew of misfits, artists, queens, rebels, lovers, fighters, and dreamers building a world out of nothing but music, fashion, attitude, and survival.

CIGNEL wasn’t just a club.

It was an apprenticeship.

It was where we learned to dress harder, dance harder, and live harder in a time when the world outside those doors didn’t always want us alive, let alone fabulous.

From there the whispers started…

About a massive club down the highway in Washington D.C. with a neon lightning bolt blazing across the building.

TRACKS.

Baltimore kids would pile into cars and head south down 295 chasing something bigger — bigger sound, bigger rooms, bigger energy.

The pilgrimage had begun.

And the lightning bolt was waiting.

Full story now live on Substack.

DC:LAND — 03: The CIGNEL Apprenticeship

—

Live. Live. Live.

— SisterFace ❌🪭⭕️

https://open.substack.com/pub/sisterface/p/dcland-3-the-cignel-apprenticeship?r=6au245&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web taken in United States of America by @sisterface

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7 months ago

DC:LAND #2 — CLUB CIGNEL, BALTIMORE: THE ARCHITECTURE OF BECOMING

Before DC claimed my nights, Baltimore initiated me. CIGNEL wasn’t just a nightclub — it was a threshold, a sound system you lived inside, a door that decided who you were becoming. This piece is a firsthand record of underground Baltimore nightlife, chosen family, and the people who built culture without permission. It’s memory, survival, and origin story all at once — the place where SisterFace truly began.

Read the full story on Substack.

SisterFace
sisterface.substack.com taken in United States of America by @sisterface

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7 months ago

DC:LAND #1 - Through Amos’s Lens

My first Substack story is live. Subscribe!

This piece honors Amos B. — the photographer who documented the underground lives, fragile beauty, and electric tension of queer nightlife between Washington DC and Baltimore in the early 90s.

He didn’t just take pictures.
He witnessed people becoming themselves.

Inside these memories are chosen family, survival, mentorship, performance, and the spaces that raised us — the clubs, the edges, the rooms where identity was forged long before the internet ever arrived.

I’m part of that archive.
And this is where SisterFace begins.

Read it now on Substack:
Substack.com/@SisterFace taken in United States of America by @sisterface

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7 months ago

PARADISE DIDN’T MAKE ME WEAK. 🌺

I came to Hawaiʻi in 2005 because these islands gave me something I desperately needed: room to breathe, heal and live. But don’t mistake peace for weakness.

I survived things no child should endure. My mother fought for me. I grew up queer, flamboyant, loud and impossible to make smaller. By the mid-1980s, I was already an AIDS warrior, fighting for our people, our dignity and our right to live. Civil rights and standing up for people pushed aside have never been a costume I take off when the party ends.

And now, from Hawaiʻi, I’m watching some cruel behavior in NYC I’ve never encountered in my years of work in philanthropy for charity, with the circumstances surrounding a charitable project I helped build now shoved back into my view. I see it from afar. I feel the hurt. And yes, I am pissed the fuck off.

I contributed my creativity, relationships, time, ideas, curation and labor. I helped bring a vision forward. Distance does not erase my contribution, and silence does not make the history disappear.

I wear my emotions on my sleeve loudly! I can go to the beach. I can breathe the Pacific air, look into the camera and find my center again. I can choose not to let other people’s conduct consume my life and take care of gatekeepers at the same time.

But don’t confuse my composure with surrender. I am pursuing accountability through the proper NY state channels. Charity deserves integrity. Collaboration deserves respect. And nobody should assume that a person will simply disappear because it’s more convenient for others.

I’m still an artist. Still an activist. Still an AIDS warrior. Still a very loud SisterFace.

I didn’t come this far to beg for a seat, and I won’t let anyone rewrite the road I traveled to get here.

So I’m going to the beach. The ocean is waiting. And I have every intention of continuing to live fabulously while I handle what needs to be handled. I’m very proud of my work this last year.

Paradise has softened my shoulders, not my principles.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ.

Facilitator, SisterFace 🌺✨ taken in Waikiki, Hawaii by @sisterface

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3 hours ago

THE GOLD COAST #2

(MY THE REALITY CHECK)

Alright, so I walked the wall, planted myself at Little Beach, and tried to pretend I could just zone out and watch the foil surfers lift themselves over the Pacific. But let’s be entirely real for a second, kids.

You know what’s really running through my head out here? Not just the waves. Not just the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa laughing at me.

It’s the fact that I am sitting thousands of miles away on Oahu while a massive crisis is actively unfolding for me back in New York City with Housing Works.

For over a year, I have poured everything into an upcoming major charity event facilitating, curating, bringing activations with them—curating, organizing, and fighting to make sure the work was treated with the respect and brilliance it deserves. And today? Right now? I’m dealing with the fallout of being completely shut out, blackballed, gatekept, and ghosted by people after giving my blood, sweat, and creative soul to this project.

It is maddening. It is heavy. And when you’re sitting on a wall beneath Diamond Head trying to catch your breath while your world is spinning across the country in Manhattan, “paradise” feels a little complicated.

That’s why I came out here. Not because everything is fine, but because the ocean doesn’t care about corporate mess or charity politics—it just keeps moving. And sometimes, you have to force yourself to look at something bigger than the immediate fire just so you don’t burn out completely.

So yeah. Part Two isn’t just about walking to the end of the wall. It’s about holding the line and keeping a clear mind when everything SHITTY! is hitting the fan.

Look around, Kidz.
Take a breath where you can. Because navigating the madness takes guts, and the paper trail speaks for itself.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ

—Even when it’s hard as hell to see.

‼️FULL PUBLIC STATEMENT COMING‼️

SisterFace 🌺✨ taken in Gold Coast, Oahu, Hawaii. by @sisterface

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2 days ago

THE AUNTIE AT THE END OF THE STAIRS 🌺🌈

Back at my Little-Beach today—and there is no beach. High tide has taken the whole damn thing.

But there is my fabulous wall, my ledge, and those glorious stairs going straight into the Pacific. I have always loved places like this. Anywhere in the world where you can simply walk down a few steps and enter the water? Fabulous.

So here I am, perched like the Auntie of the Steps! under my black reef hat with feathers and lace, wearing my pink-and-yellow Andy Warhol banana sarong, smoking the Green Goddess while surfers glide past.

COME ON. 😂

Look into that water. Where the colors change and the liquid gets thick and silent, you are already entering another world. No air. Different creatures. Different light.

Still on Earth—but suddenly in two dimensions at once.

Palm trees, sailboats, kayaks, catamarans, Waikīkī’s Pink Palace in the distance, storms wandering across the horizon, and surfers coming out of the ocean like happy, soaking-wet dogs.

And yes, ALWAYS! Surfers give this middle-aged ManDiva Queen a little extra horny smile before diving back in or stay a moment, What can I say? Paradise has its perks. 😂

Kids, this is what I mean:

THE WORLD WE ARE STANDING ON IS THE PARADISE.

Don’t wait for heaven.

Look around. Find your Paradise now.

Sit on the stairs. Get your feet wet. Laugh. Breathe. Enjoy the damn day.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ.

SisterFace 🌺🌊✨ taken in Waikiki, Hawaii by @sisterface

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3 days ago

THE GOLD COAST, DARLINGS🌈🌺

Sometimes I’m sitting on this old wall beneath Diamond Head and I honestly can’t explain what I’m looking at.

The crater is behind me, practically sitting on my shoulders, while I’m looking out across the Gold Coast—old lava-stone walls, palms, mid-century Hawaiʻi, beautiful old buildings and that ridiculous Pacific stretching forever.

And today? The surfers are out, the outrigger canoes are gliding through the water, and those fabulous foil surfers are literally lifting themselves above the ocean like little silver surfers. I could watch them all day. 😂

The water is moving fast with the tide, so you can’t see all the colors and little tropical fish the way you can on a calmer day. But you know they’re down there. And somewhere in that water is Hawaiʻi’s fabulous state fish, the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, probably laughing at me because once again I couldn’t get the damn picture.

I come here to clear my head.

Not to escape life—just to remember how enormous it is.

There is so much happening around us. So much noise, urgency and madness. But sometimes you have to stop long enough to actually look around you.

What is Paradise to you?

It might be this ocean. A mountain. Your garden. A favorite street. Somebody you love. A quiet morning. Somewhere you can finally breathe.

Whatever it is, find it.

Look around, kids.

This planet is moving fast.

Take a moment while you can.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ.

SisterFace 🌺✨ taken in Gold Coast, Oahu, Hawaii. by @sisterface

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3 days ago

DRIPPING RAIN, HIBISCUS NIGHTS🌺✨

A little mountain rain, a little midnight magic.

Drizzle falling through the Douglas firs, collecting on brilliant hibiscus petals before slipping away into the cool, damp air. Those outrageous magenta and fuchsia blossoms, their golden yellow and orange stamens glowing beneath the night lights like little tropical suns.

Fresh rain descending from the mountain. Plumeria, ginger, damp earth and freshly washed greenery drifting through the breeze. Ti leaves and grasses moving gently along the roadside.

And me, taking a lovely little walk, breathing it all in.

The sound of water dripping from the trees feels like a washing machine for the mind—rinsing away the day’s noise, agitation and accumulated nonsense.

Skin cool. Thoughts wandering. Shoulders relaxing.

Sometimes the most extraordinary thing you can do is stop trying to solve the world for a moment and simply let the rain fall.

Look at those hibiscus.

Look at that color.

Listen.

Let it rain, please.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ.

SisterFace ❌ taken in Mt. Tantalus/Roundtop Drive by @sisterface

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7 days ago

PARADISE IS NOT A DREAM 🌺

Waimānalo skies might be a little overcast, but the sun is still showing off, the water is stunning, and the white sand sticks to your feet like powdered sugar.

Today I’m walking the shoreline in my fabulous rainbow-motif kaftan, wearing Gabriela’s hat—leaving it right here in the Volkswagen so it’s waiting for her whenever she gets back.

I’ve been deep in the administrative trenches today, copying, pasting, uploading, and doing the work. Shoutout to New York State, New York City, and Ms. Ingrid for making the bureaucratic maze a little less painful.

But walking this beach reminds me of something vital: unlike people chasing a runaway dream just to someday hope to live somewhere like this, I already do.

I’ve lived in Hawaiʻi for over twenty-two years, and yet I still deeply love Baltimore, D.C., New York, Philly, and NoVA—the places and people that built a huge part of my life. From Southeast D.C. to NYC, my peers created an extraordinary world of artists, creators, and freedom fighters.

We are warriors first and foremost. If you’re not—wake the fuck up.

I’m not walking here because everything is easy. I’m walking because sometimes you need to step away from the war, the relentless bullshit, and the exhaustion to remember what beauty feels like.

Thank you, Universe. Thank you, Hawaiʻi. For every moment my strength has been drained, these islands have given most of it back.

Look around. Beautiful ʻāina.

And remember: you are always welcome in Paradise. Stay a few days and I’ll pick you up, whisk you away daily, you buy Da-Lunch, and cover the gas. Chee-Hoo! That’s a damn good deal.

Because sometimes healing is simply remembering that another world exists.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ🌈✨ taken in Waimanalo Beach, Hawaii by @sisterface

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9 days ago

GREEN, DEEP, AND BREATHING 🌿

Up above Round Top, Mount Olympus, overlooking Waikīkī, I stopped long enough to become part of the green. Not activist not warrior no character, just me.

Grant standing somewhere ahead in his red cap, surrounded by forest. Me disappearing into the same impossible color. The smell of wet earth, uprooted roots and deep tropical forest rising after the rain. Mountain birds singing somewhere beyond the trees. Wind moving through the canopy.

No performance. No destination. Completely void.

Just breathing in Hawaiʻi.

Green upon flora upon green upon green.

And for a little while, you just let go! ❌⭕️
FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ!

SisterFace 🌺✨ taken in Mount Tantalus by @sisterface

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10 days ago

THE GREAT TREES OF TANTALUS 🌿

Up here around Tantalus, Mount Olympus and Round Top, the mountain has been taking a beating.

Lowell came through. Then Nolo. Rain, wind, enormous waves, saturated ground, roads becoming rivers, trees coming down and slopes letting go. Maui, Hawaiʻi Island and the other islands have been dealing with one weather event after another, and my heart is with everybody still dealing with the aftermath. 🌺

And then I came up to one of Grant’s and my favorite places in our Honolulu backyard.

You’ve seen me here before. We drive up from Waikīkī, park the truck and disappear into the mountain within minutes. Somehow, above one of the busiest tourist cities on Earth, this still feels like a hikers’ paradise.

But one of our favorite little pieces of that world is gone.

A section of Round Top Road gave way. An ancient great tree came down with it.

And barely two weeks later, the forest is already beginning to reclaim the road.

That part almost breaks my heart more than the concrete.

Because these great trees are not decoration.

They hold soil. They hold water. They hold the mountain together. They have watched generations pass beneath their canopy. They are part of the memory of the ʻāina.

So when a great old tree falls, especially one you have walked past and loved for years, it can feel like attending a funeral.

You stop.

You look.

You remember.

And you say thank you.

Grant and I came up today simply to appreciate what is still standing.

And to say: PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

The ground is saturated. Slopes can move. Trees can fall. Trails can become dangerously slippery and unstable. Give the mountain some respect.

Aloha to the great tree.

Thank you for the shade, the roots, the stories and the years.

We see you.

We remember you.

And we will keep walking carefully beneath the ones still standing.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ.

SisterFace 🌺✨ taken in Mount Olympus Honolulu by @sisterface

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11 days ago

WHEN THE SUN FINDS THE VALLEY ✨

There are moments when Hawaiʻi doesn’t look real.

Today the sun dropped low enough to pour itself through a break in the clouds, turning the mountains and jungle-covered valleys into deep green velvet touched with gold mist from the valley rains flowing to ocean.

The sky softened into pale blue and warm honey, while the branches overhead became these dramatic little silhouettes framing the whole damn thing.

No great revelation. No complicated philosophy today.

Just sunlight finding its way through the clouds.

Sometimes that’s enough.

You stop. You look. You breathe.

And for one beautiful moment, the world feels exactly where it is supposed to be.

FIND YOUR PARADISE, KIDZ.

SisterFace 🌿✨ taken in Mount Olympus Honolulu by @sisterface

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13 days ago