The Black transgender model, actress, and activist Jari Jones celebrated a massive accomplishment by being featured on a massive Calvin Klein’s billboard in Manhattan, New York, as a part of the fashion brand’s 2020 Pride campaign #PROUDINMYCALVINS.
Besides Jones, Calvin Klein’s 2020 Pride campaign features eight other LGBTQ models, including artist Gia Woods, trans activist Chella Man, and drag queen and singer Pabllo Vittar, who identifies as a transqueer lesbian—just to name a few.
Jones celebrated her accomplishment with her friends in front of the larger-than-life billboard. She took to her Instagram and shared a series of pictures of herself with friends while celebrating. And she wrote, “There are moments that I heard about, that help you forget when the world told you ‘Never.’ There are these moments I heard about that help you heal when the society has tried to beat you down, over and over again. There are these very real moments that I heard about that help you feel affirmed even when you don’t see yourself.”
Further, she added, “I’ve been searching my whole life for those moments, I got tired of looking for those moments. So I decided to create them. Not for me but for the next dreamer, outcast, queer, trans, disabled, fat, beautiful black, piece of starlight waiting for their moment to shine.”
