In a time when going by one’s first name only is increasingly becoming the mark of some celebrity status or performance achievement, Houston’s local talent is assuming the status and taking on the moniker. In this case, it is well deserved.
Rolling out spoke with motivational speaker and national personality DRED — Daring Reality Every Day about who she, what she does and what she wants. –roz edward
About DRED:
I have been doing my work for 15 years as a motivational speaker, performer and workshop presenter on issues of diversity freedom of self-expression, not letting society condition you into how you express yourself and who you choose to love. … I am all about self-empowerment and being a visionary and self-love.
How did you begin your career as a performer?
I was in a bar that always had drag queen shows and they started having drag king shows. … and I literally had a vision as I was watching these women being free on stage and being who they are, and I saw myself doing it. When your heart speaks to something you need to trust … so now I’m making a living doing something that I love.
What is the show about?
I have a one-woman show that I do. It’s about — or one of them at least — DRED, Daring Reality Every Day or When She Was King, and it’s a mix of poetry, monologue, theater, education and it’s very thought-provoking, but fun at the same time. It’s based on experiences I have had being out in public as a man and being out in public as my woman self.
Who is your audience?
I am embraced by all kinds of communities. Straight communities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex people, queer, people questioning … all of it. I’ve been blessed to do my work all over. I have been in Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Korea and all over the U.S. I started performing back in 1995 and I performed as a man in the beginning, as a drag king, which is the opposite of a drag queen.
Why?
The reason I do what I do is because we are all one. Growing up, I was trained to hate my color, I was trained to not like my Haitian background or the fact that I was a woman. Now that I am in a place where thankfully I love myself, because most of my life I didn’t love who I was, I am here to teach it to other people.
