Or maybe you should. Black Dandies are having a moment. Last year, the Met Gala theme for 2025 paid tribute to the notion of Black Dandyism; discussions around the topic were everywhere on social media. My friends and family were sending me links to everything they came across related to the hoopla. Talks featuring experts on the topic—writers, performers, and thinkers—began popping up on YouTube and Instagram, eventually arriving in my inbox. Why me? What do I have to do with any of it? Let me explain.

“Do you want to come to Sierra Leone with me and ride bikes?”

I responded reflexively: “Count me in!”

The trip I had to take and the story I couldn’t write.

The reject izod polo shirts my parents bought me at an outlet mall on summer vacation, before the start of 9th grade had the exact opposite effect that I had hoped.

I camped at night once, in the woods, all alone. I survived. I've told few friends and none of my family. I'm just enough of a weirdo to have really enjoyed and I'll do it again.