Beautiful People: Benjamín González

Benjamín González wears ReciclaGEM Syncretism jacket, his own crisp top, pants, and sneakers, and bracelets by Ladyfied). Photo by Austin Phelps.

Benjamín González is a writer, tech-aficionado, stylist, and master mixologist. Aside from his many artistic talents and fierce creative voice, he has spent many years as a community organizer for LGBTQ, immigrant and Deaf communities. He is a master of language and uses it as a vehicle for community development and social justice. 

 (Follow Ben @bengenus everwhere digital)

I want to use my languages to publish the stories of disenfranchised voices through the Internet as well as print and online media.

("Ghost of a Queer Desire" by Benjamín González)

Current Projects

I'm working with the Yale Alumni Association of New York (YAANY) to organize their second annual Foodtober, a month of food-related events and activities in association with local community partners in the NY-metro area to bring attention to what we eat, how we eat, and who helps make our food. (That's in October.) I might be organizing my own event for Foodtober: a historical tour and food crawl for my neighborhood, East Harlem, where I've lived for almost five years. Besides coordinating the communications for YAANY throughout the year, I'm dabbling in freelance work (writing, editing, styling, consulting), baking, and getting really into gymnast-level jumproping. 

("A Very Berry Pie by Two Fruits" by Benjamin Gonzalez and Alex Weintraub)

Ben's Relationship to Brazil 

I'm an unrequited lover of Brazil. I've learned the language, some history, even a bit of capoeira, but haven't been able to visit! So all this painful, happy love for this country I've never been to leaves me consumed and hopeful. I can't wait to visit and then be possessed by saudade.

The language is what drew me to loving Brazil, it's a song, a riff even when you think of its colonial origins. Brazil took Portuguese and made it its own.

Ben's Relationship to ReciclaGEM

Ben has been a long time friend and supporter of ReciclaGEM, a model in first pre-ReciclaGEM fashion projects, and a future model of our menswear. Ben, from his sartorial and literary art to commitment to language justice, is a Beautiful Person to watch. 

Thank you, BenG, for your beauty, artistry, talent and grace! You make our world better,

T*