Julius Reuben
A Tanzanian-born British citizen, Julius is a creative and performing artist, model and stylist. He has worked extensively in numerous television productions, films and theatres. His work has won awards from the UK right across the globe to China and he has modelled and appeared in a plethora of well known fashion and style magazines.
In his spare time he is an activist connecting African LGBTQI and human rights activists to European LGBT charities as well as volunteering for health promotion charities such as GMFA, Big Up and THT.
What does your identity mean to you?
I have learned it is the colour of my skin, it is the name I bear, it is my aura, the grace in my walk, it is the abstract shape of my head, the sound of my voice! It is the gap in my tooth, it is my awkward witty smile that fills my face, it is my kinky hair, it is my genitals, it is who I choose to sleep with, it is the gender I was given from birth, it is the stages of my growth, it is the wrinkle in my face! It is the DNA in my blood, the resemblance of my ancestors, it is what my eyes see and what my eyes choose to see! It is what I accept and what I don’t!
It is a formation of almost everything that I have ever known so far! It is the small particles throughout my body and life journey that connects to the person that I am today! It is also the very thing that fuels me and the very thing that plays a part in destroying me within the system of an oppressor!