By: Sherifat Mohammed
According to the National Sexual Violence Response Center, one in five women will be raped at some point in their lives. The center also points out that 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. Let those statistics sink in for a minute. If one in five women may get raped in their life and they are not reporting it to the police— this means a lot of women are carrying a lot of heaviness in their mind, body and soul thus impacting their mental health. Where do these women go to for support? What should they do? Do they keep hiding their pain? Should they mask it? Although mental health is being discussed more than it has in the past, we still have a long way to go. De’Anna Liz has made it her passion to create a platform using the arts as a way to combat mental health issues caused by traumatic events in the lives of women. The model, poet, philanthropist and mental health advocate created the social media awareness campaign #DareToGoNaked, which is an extension of her Naked Campaign, which focuses on empowering women with low self-esteem, rape survivors, women who have survived violence and abuse and women dealing with mental health challenges. Check out my interview below with De’Anna Liz for information on how to get naked—I dare you.
SM: Before we get started, could you tell us a little bit but about yourself? Where did you grow up? Where are you a native of?
DL: Sure. I’m originally from New York. I was born in Miami. I went to school in Rhode Island as an entertainment major with a minor in psychology and brand development. I love creating. And I was like what can I do in life and create at the same time? So, I think the campaign gave me the ability to create in all ways shapes and forms. I am Dominican, Puerto Rican and Jamaican. I am the oldest of three.
SM: How did you get started in the mental health field?
DL: I have always wanted to use the modeling platform to help women. Honestly, I found it more liberating than anything. When I walked the runway, it just felt so empowering. So, I knew that I wanted to incorporate my mental health campaign into fashion—because a lot of women—we kinda have this whole self-consciousness or insecurities that we are not good enough. So, I literally wanted to use the runway as that platform. So, I do runway presentations where I recite a poem and the girls walk to an empowering song with running mascara on their face and a lot of the women have said that it’s very empowering and liberating. So, that’s one form of therapy that I use. As well as shining the light on mental health. What made what do this was because I dealt with so much as a young girl. When you deal with rape, abortion and domestic violence at a young age—you don’t know who to turn to. It becomes difficult, and you’re like wow. How do I change this for other people? So, I wanted to create a platform, to help other women understand that they are not alone.
SM: What inspired you to start the Naked Campaign?
DL: You deal with so much on your own, and you’re hiding in the closet. You’re cutting yourself and popping pills—numbing your pain with alcohol— You’re like—how can I prevent this from happening to my younger sister. How can I prevent this from happening to other women around me? It’s so common. It’s crazy how it’s not spoken about as often. My past experiences is what made me want to create a safe place for women to learn to heal and love themselves at the same time.
SM: What types of mental health issues does the Naked Campaign deal with?
DL: We don’t discriminate. There’s none that I wouldn’t target. Because at the end of the day you can have: schizophrenia, bipolar, spilt personality, depression and anxiety and the list goes on and on. We are all dealing with something. My whole goal is whoever decides to come to The Naked Campaign that they find a way to heal using the arts and more non-traditional standpoints of growing and self-love.
SM: You spoke about the arts. What made you use the arts as a way to combat mental health issues?
DL: I think art is the biggest way of expressing yourself in ways that you never thought you could. There are artists who are musicians, who are writers, who are chefs and painters— all of these are forms of expression. So, I figured when you’re channeling all of that energy unto paper or music or into an art form, it really does help liberate and that’s one part of self-actualization and understanding yourself. And when you grow from there you can continue to grow to speak about things.
SM: How did the social media health awareness #DareToGoNaked get started?
DL: I wanted something catchy. I think that naked in itself is so controversial. When you meet people and you tell them, “oh, I have a campaign called naked.” And they are literally like— what? It turns heads and eyes. When you dare someone to go naked, the first thought process is what do you mean? It’s a conversation started. People are like what is naked? Oh, we’re doing it in an untraditional way. We’re literally using our words as an art form. I thought dare to go naked would be a play on words metaphorically and being transparent—so, that’s where it came from.
SM: That’s pretty cool. What’s Dare To Go Naked’s ultimate goal?
DL: My ultimate goal is to reach the masses and to help women to really become more transparent. Again, naked is the art form of transparency. Peel back layer after layer and really get into the core of who we are as a person and uplifting spiritually, financially, sexually and emotionally. I want people to understand that it’s cool to talk about our mental health. I want it to be normal to be like— hey you know what I spoke with a psychologist three times this week and I feel liberated. Or I walked down the runway and I felt liberated today. Or I practiced self-care and I felt great. I felt like a million bucks. I think that those are important things especially if you want to get into a relationship. You want to understand what makes that person that person. We can’t get to the core of that person unless we are talking about who we really are.
SM: I think that is so important. Because a lot of people don’t take the time to do the inner work before getting into relationships. Are they any volunteer opportunities with the Go Naked Campaign? If so, how and where can people sign up?
DL: There are opportunities. It’s on my website— nakedcampaign.org.
SM: What resources does the Naked Campaign have for those who have/or are going through something traumatic or suffering from mental health challenges?
DL: On the website, we have all hotlines listed—Suicide prevention, domestic violence, self esteem. They are all listed on the website. My goal is by the end of the year, is to have a psychologist who will be there at the click of an app and we are able to create virtual assistance.
My goal is to uplift, guide and help in any way that I can.
SM: Does The Naked Campaign have any events coming up? What should we be on the lookout for?
DL: I am doing a collaboration with Brooklyn Tankard from the Bravo show and she has as tour “I am Free Tour” and, I will be on the panel in the fall. That’s a tentative date. Then I have another panel with Lillie Mae—I believe that will be in August—and that’s a tentative date. I also have some fashion shows that I am solidifying as we speak that will be coming up in the summer.
SM: Finally where can people get more information and follow the Go Naked Campaign?
DL: For all updated event information, it will be on the website and that will be nakedcampaign.org. For our social media handles, honestly you’ll find us more on Instagram, which is @nakedcampaign.
