I’m going to start this off with sharing a journey I got to take a small part in to set the stage.
My dear friend AJ, asked me to bring home a pair of boots he had bought from a South African bootblack, Nona. These boots started in SA and traveled to the US in 2017 when Nona came and competed. She was fundraising for her travels but when it came down to the end of the weekend, AJ simply didn’t have room to take the home. Nona held onto the boots for two years until I was asked to bring them home since Nona and I were going to be in the same place.
Three leather folx, two continents, and one ocean, all to get these boots from one home to another. I was honored to play a part in the journey of the traveling boots but really, it was much more than just the actual pair of boots.
This got me thinking about the connection Leather brings us. At the end of the day, all leather is (by definition) is a piece of material used to make other things. But for those of us in the Leather lifestyle, it’s about tradition, making new traditions, making our own path and living a rebellious, sexy lifestyle. To know that someone an ocean and a continent away is working on boots to come all the way over here whether it be for a fundraiser or for someone in particular is really special. Keeping in mind that we all do this with our own flavor (especially if you flag lime green 😉 ), we all still have a fundamental understanding of what leather it’s. Knowing that we all share this bond of Leather makes this big world feel a little smaller makes me grateful for the connections I created and look forward to the ones that I have to get to experience.
Just the other day I was explaining this very thing to someone. They were asking what I have been up to and I explained to them what I was doing with Women of Drummer. The thing that I was most proud of was to say that I have made friends and extended tribe in so many areas that there are very few places I couldn’t travel to and not have connections, not only on my own continent but all others as well. It’s something I feel so lucky to have.
Really, at the end of all of this, what I am saying is that Leather is something that not a lot of people (in the global scheme of things)share. I thank my lucky stars that I can count myself amongst these people, not only because is it who I am but it is also the core of so many wonderful people I have the privilege of knowing. Leather allows us to share these bonds and connections, no matter where we are or where we have come from and and in a world that’s growing ever more hostile, it is a great comfort knowing that I share this bond with many wonderful, kinky Leatherfolx.
~Voss
2018 Woman of Drummer
Featured Image: Picture of Nona and I when I picked up the boots.
Photo Below: Picture of AJ and I when I delivered the boots.
Permission given by all to use the photos 🙂
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