In your Instagram Stories, you were talking about how she was really there for you personally through difficult times. How did your relationship evolve?
After the People’s Choice Awards—because before it was very, you know, hey girl, like, you know—she really began to speak life to me. She would just always send me messages, or she was thinking about me. Or when she started receiving all these awards, she would send me videos and be like, “I wish you were here. Love you.” And, “wow, you know, I love you, Queen. I’m so proud of you. I’m so happy for you.” And when life started coming back into my eyes, and I started feeling more like myself again, she was like, “I can really see the light in you again, and I could see you’re coming back to the light. You look so happy, and I’m so proud of you.”
That kind of emotional support from somebody like her can really change your whole day. And sometimes, when I did not hear from nobody, it would just be the random messages of love. And [they were] deep, you know—no emojis! Like words, speaking light, and it was really powerful. She had a very powerful way of speaking. When she speaks, you sit back and you listen.
It seems like she’s a person whose cup is never empty. In the last video she posted, every single person that she was handing food to, she looked in the eye and said, “Here you go, King. Here you go, Queen.” I feel like it is increasingly rare to have people who look at other people and see them, like capital S, see them.
But also it’s Black people, brown people in the homeless community, people who are marginalized. Not even marginalized—they don’t even see them as human. They’re dehumanized. It’s one thing, going to the coffee shop and saying what’s up to somebody else at the coffee shop or your barista. She’s [Raines] speaking life into people who were made invisible by our society. She would say, “This is the government’s job. This is what the government is supposed to be doing.” And she’s out there doing it all by herself. I want so desperately for Beauty 2 the Streetz to continue, because it’s so important. It’s so necessary. The government’s not going to take care of homeless people. So who’s going to see these communities and continue to serve them?
Is there support to carry on the work with Beauty 2 the Streetz?
I think that we have to allow some time to grieve. I think that hearts are broken, so I don’t want to put any pressure on anybody. But there’s a lot of people who are motivated to help continue Beauty 2 the Streetz’s work and organization, and when they’re ready to talk about it, I’m here, you know? And a lot of people are here.
There’s no one like her. She is irreplaceable. She is Beauty 2 the Streetz. If anybody is moved by Ms. Shirley and her story, then there’s nothing stopping them from contributing to underserved communities and underserved people, whatever calls you. I think we forget that sometimes you don’t need permission to put a smile on somebody’s face or to give or to share with somebody. You don’t need permission to uplift somebody. You don’t need permission to really see somebody and call them a king or call them a queen. You don’t need permission for that. Just do it.