Meet De’jah Monai | Abstract Executive

We had the good fortune of connecting with De’jah Monai and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi De’jah Monai, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I decided to pursue an artistic & creative career because I wanted to be able to be my authentic self and be taken care of for it. Being in spaces where I am able to make art, innovate & create new things—try new ideas, allows me to get closer to my highest self and gain clarity on my purpose. When I graduated college in 2019, I began working at a large tech company and I was making good money but I was miserable. I felt like I had to put on a full-body-masking-suit everyday. The work that I was doing also didn’t feel impactful at all, but rather capitalistically driven. Throwing myself into my art and creativity allowed me to understanding freedom & realize that I can make anything happen. Even through the ebbs and flows it’s an amazing journey.

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
My art is all a raw reflection of my inner light and my experiences. I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve accepted that my art looks differently depending on what the inspiration for the project. It’s just an expression of my consciousness really. So sometimes my art comes out as a painting, other times as a piece of clothing, sometimes as a program, sometimes as an event, sometimes as a poem. I realized that I do not have to limit myself.

I started a creative brand called BLAK. The Brand which stands for Be Loving And Kind. We design wearable art and stimulating experiences that encourage humans to be loving and kind to themselves, to others, to animals to the planet. The goal is to create a true movement by incorporating sustainable practices in our fashion, sustainable business practices & also eco-friendly events offering plant based meals & products only. That is the niche.

Something I’m proud of right now is that I launched the first program under BLAK. The Brand this past summer. I designed and directed a 4-week summer program called “The Nature of Fashion” which is a free sustainable fashion design program held at an urban garden in Newark called Rabbit Hole Farm.

The Nature of Fashion was designed for students 13 years and older to learn sustainable fashion techniques and understand how their decisions impact the world. All of the students who registered were current or incoming students of the Newark School of Fashion & Design in Newark. I was able to collaborate with Vegan Activist Alliance, whom sponsored lunches for all 4 weeks of the program not only for students but for all staff and guest educators as well. They were able to contract local plant based businesses that were BIPOC, that I also had input in selecting some of my favorite places to eat at, which was really dope. In that, they also contracted one of my other businesses, EverythingGreeen which is a clean, plant based product company, to provide smoothies for everyone in attendance each day of the program. It was dope. I also was able to connect with different artists and creatives to do workshops each day, so students were able to learn a dope skill every single day, and since they are all going to the Newark School of fashion & design, we were literally able to impact the next generation of fashion designers to keep their impact of the world in mind while their designing! That’s a huge deal while fashion is one of the biggest leaders in pollution of our Earth.

When I originally thought of this idea, I knew that the grants I applied for were going to come through. But they didn’t. I never lost faith that I would be able to execute and everything ended up just coming together so perfectly, which I am extremely grateful for. That’s something that I am really proud of right now. The Nature of Fashion program ended in a Garden Showcase where students exhibited their work, they even sold some pieces all together they made around $150 which was cool! For a lot of them they had never made money before as they are only 13-15 years old.

On our instagram @blakthebrand you can check out all the reels from each day do the program as well as learning more about each educator and the vegan spots we ate from each day!

I’d love to have more support Doing it again next year and am certainly open to partnerships & sponsorships!

My art is transformative and ever-changing I love that. What sets me apart from others is literally that it’s mine. We can only create from our own experiences and our own level of consciousness, therefore everything is unique which automatically makes what I make different. Creating is not looking at someone else’s work then doing the same thing, it may be art, it’s imitation not creation.

I’ve always been creative and artistic. It took me a while to be more comfortable sharing my art because it’s so personal. I look at it in such an introspective way, where it’s like you can see my inner self when I create. Although everyone’s perception will be different, to put art in the world is such a bold and courageous thing to do because of the impact and reaction from the viewers.

So for me, I had to get more comfortable with myself and do a lot of spiritual work and healing to be free enough and love myself enough to be able to be open to be criticized or judged. Art will be judged. I have more of the connection to the process of creating, that cannot be judged, that is not always for public view and that is what is scared to me.

Everything I do is art, but with integrity: a true expression of me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in New Jersey, and I actually have an Instagram page that I started called What’s the Wave NJ. So first, I’d head over to @whatsthewavenj and look for something to do. I love going to How Delish in West Orange it’s a really good black owned vegan restaurant! It’s so yummy they have the best desserts and great sandwiches. Id also take them to the Newark Museum which is pretty cool they always have dope events and exhibitions there, you can even find work from some local artists. I’d also take them to Halsey St in newark just to walk around because it’s a dope lil vibe.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
As far as my success goes the first thanks would have to be to God. I have surrendered and continue to surrender to the path already laid out for me & also following my inner compass or intuition. Every single book , conversation and experience has greatly contributed to who I am today. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is one of the books that has truly transformed my life. Eckhart has been able to communicate directly to my highest self and how to be the watcher of my thoughts, teaching about the law of attraction in such a deeper way than just focusing on getting your desires. It’s about truth, and understanding yourself. Another book that has truly poured into me was Feeding the Soul by Tabitha Brown. She is a black woman, vegan, mother, actress and storyteller. She made me feel seen and also understood with her different examples of overcoming obstacles while still maintaining integrity, grace and peace. It has truly added a new lens to the way that I view life and my own experiences. I also would like to shout my late mother who had instilled a drive to never give up in me. She literally never gave up. It didn’t matter what was going on or what she was going through, giving up was never an option. She also always poured into my many different interests, talents and skills which I appreciate, she never made me choose. Now as a serial entrepreneur or hyper creative it all makes sense.

Website: Business site: www.blakthebrand.com art site: www.dejsworldofart.com

Instagram: Personal: @iamdejahmonai / Business pages: blakthebrand @dejsworldofart @whatsthewavenj

Twitter: @iamdejahmonai