Korto Momolu longs to become a fashion designer, while growing up in Liberia | The Moth

What this episode is about

Korto Momolu recounts her childhood in Liberia, sharing her aspiration to be an artist amidst a family culture that prioritized education and traditional careers. Her father's dismissive reaction to her dream, combined with the socioeconomic challenges of schooling in Liberia, shaped her understanding of success and the complexities of pursuing her passion for fashion design.

Key takeaways

• In a world that silences dreams, art can be a rebellious act of self-expression.
• The irony: pursuing 'traditional success' sometimes leads to abandoning true passions.
• Education is pivotal in African families, but creative aspirations often face skepticism and pressure.
• Crisis reveals character: art became a refuge amid turmoil, transforming pain into profound creativity.
• Love in African families isn't verbal but woven into sacrifices; actions often speak louder than words.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Korto Momolu (Host) · 10 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Iberia, Canada
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Canada, Charles Taylor
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Project Runway, Montreal

Notable quotes from "Korto Momolu longs to become a fashion designer, while growing up in Liberia | The Moth"

• And then in my seventh grade year, the teachers in Liberia went on strike and we were out of school for like 3 or 4 months.

  about Iberia · at 1:52

• Article came out that the rebel leader, Charles Taylor, wanted my father to be captured by anyone, and if they did,.

  about Charles Taylor · at 4:40

• That just joined the church from Montreal who happened to be in the fashion industry, and she saw my sketchbook and told my mom,.

  about Montreal · at 7:22

• That said, I watched <i>Project Runway</i> with my mom and dad, and because you made it, now I can go to fashion design school.

  about Project Runway · at 8:51

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Charles Taylor — Person · Referenced political figure / antagonist in family narrative · 1 mention · first at 4:42
  Mentioned as the Liberian rebel leader whose threat against the speaker’s father enabled the father to seek political asylum, shaping the family’s refugee journey.

Places & events

• Iberia — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 1:54
  Central to the speaker's personal history, including education, family, and the civil war that forced their family to flee.
• Canada — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 2:08
  The country where the speaker and their family sought refuge and where the speaker pursued their education in fashion design.
  Had a good relationship with the ambassador from Liberia to Canada, and they found a boarding school there.
• Montreal — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 7:23
  The city where a pivotal encounter with a fashion industry professional led to the speaker's education in fashion design.

Media & podcasts

• Project Runway — Media · Case study · 2 mentions · first at 8:15
  The speaker's participation in Project Runway was a pivotal moment in their career, inspiring others from similar backgrounds.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 One of the fondest memories of my childhood is a family gathering we had and my father asked my older sister and I what were we going to be when we grew up? So my sister went first and she said she was going to go into business and everybody started screaming. And there was so much pride and joy in the room. And then my father looked at me and said, well, what are you going to be? So I got up, proudly, and I said, I'm going to be an artist. Yeah. It was just as quiet as this room right now. Crickets. No joy, no excitement.

0:30 I think the room went dark real quick, and, my father broke the silence and he was like, yeah, no. I'm not paying for you to go draw all day. So literally go back to the drawing board and figure something else out. So that was the day I realized that being African and being an artist, just didn’t go together. You know, education was always key in my family. A lot of people don't know this, but in Liberia, if you don't have any money, you can’t go to private school or public school. It didn't matter if you didn't have the money, you just couldn't go.

1:02 So my father, being the eldest of 16 kids, was the chosen one. He got to go to school and he would come home and he would teach his other siblings what he learned at school. And my grandfather was able to take him all the way up until he got into high school and couldn't afford it. So a family friend took my father in and put him through the rest of the way. So upon graduation, my dad wanted to honor this man, but he didn't have any money, hadn't worked yet, and the only thing he could think of was to take on his last name.

1:30 So that's how I got my last name Momolu. That was the best way to honor him. Because what does the father do? He gives you education. So he started to work in the ranks of government in Liberia with his political career. And he got to about third in government and we had a good life. You know, we had a big house. We went to the best private school with the president's kids, and we didn't want or need for anything. And then in my seventh grade year, the teachers in Liberia went on strike and we were out of school for like 3 or 4 months.

1:59 And my parents are starting to get antsy and felt that we were falling behind. So they started to look for other schools abroad. And my father had a good relationship with the ambassador from Liberia to Canada, and they found a boarding school there. And just like that overnight my sister and I were shipped across the waters to this boarding school. When we got there, it was bittersweet because I knew the sacrifices that they had made and other kids in my class were still out of school. So I had to kind of suck it up, as always.

2:25 But there was this art class that I loved in the school. I really took a liking to it, and the teachers saw something in me that I honestly didn't see in myself, and she nurtured me. She helped me build a portfolio up and actually get to where I wanted to go and apply to one of the top fashion schools in the country. So yeah, even though he said he wasn't going to pay for it, I kind of wanted to see if I still had it anyways. The next day I went to biology class and my biology teacher was like, aren't you from Liberia?

2:53 I heard there's like a coup or something going on there. And immediately my heart just dropped because I knew what that meant. A coup in my country meant that if you're in government immediately it was execution by firing squad. I knew my mom and my siblings would be taken into captivity, and my family would be probably murdered. So I ran to the first payphone I could get to and called my guardian, and he said that the phone lines in Liberia have been cut and there was no way to reach anybody but to calm down and go back to class, and everything should be okay.

3:23 So about a week later, my mom and dad called. My sister got on the phone first and it was quiet at first, and then she started whimpering and turning to screaming and shouting, and she dropped the phone and ran. And then I picked the phone up and I, I believe they were telling me exactly what they told her, that, you know, things were not good in Liberia, and they didn't know if they were going to be able to get out of the country. And that because me and her were the oldest, we had to now be in charge of the family and really get together and be strong.

3:52 And then they said they loved me. And for most people that's normal. But for an African child, an African parent doesn't tell you they love you. They show you they love you. So here I am on the day where two of them say, I love you. And I was like, man, this is really serious. They really think they're going to die. So I go to my room the same way and I'm crying. And then I got on my knees and started to pray. I was like, God, please save my family and make sure we get back together and make sure we're reunited. Don't kill my parents in this.

4:22 About a week later, we got a call that my mom was able to get on the very last flight out of Liberia with basically the clothes on her back. And a week later, my dad was able to escape to a neighboring country Guinea to a refugee camp there that a lot of my family members had started to gather. It was in that refugee camp that a newspaper article came out that the rebel leader, Charles Taylor, wanted my father to be captured by anyone, and if they did, to bring him directly to him as he wanted to be the one that personally killed my father.

4:51 He was able to take that newspaper article and take it to the U.S. embassy, and with that, he was able to get political asylum. So soon enough, we were all reunited back in Canada. But it wasn't joy and it wasn't happiness, because every day the phone kept ringing. Somebody was getting murdered, somebody was missing, and it was always doom. But it was during this time that I really dug into my artwork. My sketchbook was like my savior. Like I would just sketch and draw all day and just try to escape all the negativity.

5:20 And that was like my piece. And then one day, Joy called. I answered the phone and it was that school that I secretly applied to. They decided to not send me a letter, but call me directly at home and tell me I got in. Yeah. But it was short lived because after I started screaming around the house, I got in! I got in! Yay! All the things. My parents waited until I calmed down and called me into their room and I remember going in there. My mom was looking at the floor, my dad was looking out the window, and I was like, oh God, somebody died.

5:56 And soon enough my father said, congratulations for getting into that school. But, we can't afford it. We're refugees. We don't have any money. You know, we had to get on welfare and kind of wait for the immigration process. So for now, you have to put that dream on hold. And I remember trying to keep it together, because I imagine what I was feeling was way less than what he was feeling, because he worked so hard to make sure his fate wasn't the same as mine. And I went to my room and I just bawled and I was like, man God.

6:26 I prayed for my family to be okay, but I never prayed for my dreams to be okay, for me to still have my dreams fulfilled, but I couldn't even fix my mouth to even pray another prayer because God had done so much for me so far. So I just dug deeper into my art. Like that sketchbook was my everything. I would draw and sketch and do anything I could do just to escape all the things that was happening around us. And one day my mom found my sketchbook and she's like, I didn't know you were this talented. And in my sarcastic 16 year old head, I was like, well, I tried to tell y’all but nobody would listen.

7:04 But it didn't matter because we didn't have any money and it wasn't going to matter anyway. And so who cared, right? And she would say, God will find a way. God's going to make a way. And she would take my sketchbook to anybody that would listen. And anyone that would look at it. Everywhere she volunteered. And one day she took it to our church, and there was a lady that just joined the church from Montreal who happened to be in the fashion industry, and she saw my sketchbook and told my mom, I think your daughter needs to go to fashion design school.

7:32 You should try to get her in. And she said, well, she actually got accepted to the number one fashion school in the country, but we can't afford it because we don't have any money because of the war in Liberia. And this woman, this stranger, looked at my mother and said, if you will allow me to, I would love to pay for your daughter to go to fashion design school. And she did, and she paid for me to go to school. She took me to fabric stores to make sure I would have everything I needed. So when I started school, I'd be on the same playing field as everybody.

8:02 And no one would know my situation and I excelled. I graduated top three in my class and after continued in the design world to see where I would land my foot. And eventually this reality show came around called <i>Project Runway</i>.

8:21 And I when I saw the first episode, I knew I was like, I got to get on here, and I did. Season five. I auditioned, I got on, got all the way to the end and finished second. And although it was bittersweet.

8:38 Although it was bittersweet because I didn't win when I got home, it was the emails and the letters that I got from all over the world, but it was especially the ones from Rwanda, from Somalia, and especially from Liberia of little girls. That said, I watched <i>Project Runway</i> with my mom and dad, and because you made it, now I can go to fashion design school and I can be an artist because you did it. But it was this one letter that came from this young lady, and we had the same story, except her prayers didn’t come true, and her parents didn't make it out of the war, and something just had it in me to just stay with her and mentor her through high school, she got into fashion design school and eventually after school, she opened her own business and she called me up and said she was showing at Fashion Week and I just knew I had to be there.

9:24 So I'm sitting in the front row and as she walks down, I just kept thinking of all the random acts of kindness that affected my life or my father to me, but it was the ripple effect of how it affected so many other lives. And there was that one random act of kindness that really, truly was the difference between me growing up and saying, I would have been a great artist. I could have been the best fashion designer. Then this woman that stands right before you today who's living her dream out loud, literally one random act of kindness at a time. Thank you.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Korto Momolu longs to become a fashion designer, while growing up in Liberia | The Moth"?

Korto Momolu (Host).

What is "Korto Momolu longs to become a fashion designer, while growing up in Liberia | The Moth" about?

Korto Momolu recounts her childhood in Liberia, sharing her aspiration to be an artist amidst a family culture that prioritized education and traditional careers. Her father's dismissive reaction to her dream, combined with the socioeconomic challenges of schooling in Liberia, shaped her understanding of success and the complexities of pursuing her passion for fashion design.

What is mentioned in this The Moth episode?

5 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Iberia, Project Runway, Canada, Charles Taylor, Montreal. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Korto Momolu longs to become a fashion designer, while growing up in Liberia | The Moth"?

The episode runs 10 min; the transcript is about 2,106 words in 20 timestamped sections.

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