Meet SublimeLuv | Spoken Word Artist | Teaching Artist | Speaker | Facilitator

We had the good fortune of connecting with SublimeLuv, the owner of SublimeLuv Brand and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi SublimeLuv, what’s your definition for success?
Success to me is nuanced. One layer of attaining success as an artist is working consistently on your art and remaining passionate about it despite the monetary outcome. As long as one remains serious and consistent with their art, monetary success will come. One can be extremely talented but it takes determination and tenacity to see it all the way through. Another layer for me, is that success looks like people being moved by my words that have no stake in me. Family and friends love and support you by default (and even that may not be a guarantee), but when strangers are impacted and transformed by your work, you have truly made it!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work embodies the theme of the “personal as political.” I exist in this world as a Black Queer woman with mental illness. My life and experience living in my body is often the fuel behind my poems. I changed my artist name to SublimeLuv in 2012 when I began to perform more often.

Sublime means “supreme, outstanding.” I chose to spell l-o-v-e as l-u-v because I view Luv as a revolutionary tool. Luv signifies Black love, love for the oppressed, queer love, trans love, and disabled love. When we practice Luv, we are fiercely loving ourselves and each other no matter how worthy or unworthy we are deemed by society. Luv is activism. We need revolutionary Luv today.

I am a Boston born and bred spoken word artist, teaching artist, public speaker, facilitator, and social justice advocate currently living in Miami. I am a product of private and public school systems; and I became an activist through words at an early age due to my contrasting experiences in those institutions. Through my art and future endeavors, I aim to empower womxn and gender non-conforming people of the global majority to impact visibility and positive global change.

I feel that my purpose is what sets me apart from others. Whenever I perform, speak, or facilitate it is with the intention to transform my audience. Whether that be awakening them, touching their emotions, inspiring them to love themselves and each other more, etc. My voice is powerful and unique and my intention is that my audience will be moved into higher versions of themselves.

I got to where I am today with the support of community and a strong belief system about life purpose. My life journey consisted of years of struggle with my mental illness among many other obstacles. Along the way I remained grateful and I began to approach life with a growth mindset. I started to look at past experiences as lessons, even with all the mistakes. I am continuously manifesting and working towards my goals; and I am so grateful for the journey.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So I am head over heels IN LOVE with Miami. I am still exploring it but when my friends visit we must go to:

-Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina
-Biscayne Bay & Bayside Marketplace
-Afro Code’s Day Party at Brick Miami in Wynwood on Saturdays
-Journey around Wynwood
-Superblue
-Miami Beach

Just to name a few.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout my grandparents, Dorothy and Lenard Harris. They saw my potential as a child and gave me the unwavering love and support that I needed growing up. They shielded me from the effects of poverty and made sure I knew that I can be anything I desired. They laid my life foundation and I wouldn’t be anywhere without them.

Website: www.sublimeluv.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/sublimeluvbrand

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN6TeWRqM4-UulvD7pzD_3w

Image Credits
@mrryanmahoney @ntnorthwest @sirreyes_films