Paint with All the Colors of the Wind
(10 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)
Loading ...I was recently skimming the New York Times fashion and style section and came across an editorial recognizing the repeated occurrence of disheveled male fashion designers as the anti-climactic finale to their shows. The op-ed piece can be found here. In usual NYT fashion, it struck a certain chord with me. How much does what we wear and how we present ourselves impact how we are received?
Looking at the style choices Quest has made, it’s no wonder they have charmed millions, won America and MTV over, and most importantly clearly articulated a message of harmony through their performances. Just looking at the bold colors they sport day in and day out, usually with at least one being a shade of purple, you can extrapolate plenty. Purple – a color that has come to represent both majesty and mystery in the literary world and in our physical surroundings. From the drapes of Agamemnon to the mysterious clouds that top mountains in the Jiangsu province of China, purple embodies the qualities of all its individual components – just like Quest. Rarely have I seen unity through diversity executed as well as when Quest performs. They have found an amazing capacity to take all the talents they hold as individuals and use them to benefit the entire group. In fact, they have also perfected an ability to highlight individual members without creating any competition (except maybe in a Spam Musubi contest) and without taking away from any single member. Just watch their latest freestyle set:
Every time I see this performance I watch in awe. How deeply I wish that we, as a society, can do what Quest has done so effortlessly in their own choreography. Whether speaking as religious cohorts, ethnicities, genders, socio-economic classes, or any other divide that exists, the truth is we all have something different to offer to sustain ourselves as a healthy and prosperous civilization. While these differences separate us, a stronger identity as part of the human race should unite us. One person, one cohort, one race cannot save the world – but if we used everything we have to stand beside one another and do this as one, then perhaps world peace would not seem so far-fetched (I say in an undergraduate level idealistic state-of-mind).
I think Quest’s choice of purple, whether conscious or not, articulates perfectly this fight for unity. A color that so beautifully absorbs the warmth of red and the coolness of blue, displays its delicacy in shades such as lilac, and its inherent majesty in shades such as plum is a perfect selection for a crew inspired to work harder with each obstacle they face, and humbled further by increasing fame. They have this magnificent ability to brilliantly unify seemingly disparate talents. A mere moment of seeing this inspirational ability to transpose dissonance into beautiful harmony changed me, allowing me to believe again in that naive concept of a unified utopia. Maybe if we shoot for that utopia we can end up in a land of high-functioning happiness. If, however, we shoot for mediocrity, we can only expect to fall into a deserted land of despair (I say as I stand in the trashed streets of Detroit).
So America, let Quest into your homes, into your heart and maybe we can all stand together and actualize some change. Yes we can!
~Some Ramblings from Lubna~
8 Responses to “Paint with All the Colors of the Wind”
Fusion 
I was sure you were the one who had written this article Lubna, you’re so talented at writing such deep and beautiful things !!
And about what you said, it almost made me cry cuz i’ve always saw this purple obsession – that i myself have too – like a mysterious and beautiful color, that represent me and all my differences from all people. And that’s why i thought it matched so well to Quest too, cuz they’re differents than what we usually can see as people pretented to be stars : they are the true stars in my life, cuz more than being such talented and funny guys, they changed my life and my vision of what dreams are for : now i know i can do all that i want, i only have to believe hard in it, and work very hard to reach my goal, and never give up …
Idk if Quest guys are aware of all of that, i don’t think they ever think about what could purple represent, but you perfectly explained it …
!!!WOW!!!you write very well,so talented.I totally agree with you…And Quest are in my latin heart and stay there forever =)…
Bendiciones desde Colombia.
After reading this article. I thought about why I choose to wear the color purple and about how my color selection in the past has actually said a lot about who I was. I used to wear a lot of dark colors- being like everyone else, having thoughts to myself. I think the majority of the population wears dark colors- blue, black, brown, etc. It is a common color that everyone wears, but it is not necessarily a bad thing . I think it means they are common colors that everyone can enjoy.
Then I think about why I chose to buy purple. True, I was inspired about Quest Crew, but every time I choose to wear purple it feels a little different. People do a double take and have a slightly different look on their face when they see me wearing purple. It is not a common color, it’s…different. The color purple sends a message that someone is different and it may be even extended to say that someone is unique. I feel that when people wear purple, they are unconsciously saying “hey, I’m a little different”. Although many people may wear purple, they are all unique individuals. The color purple encompasses people’s individualism but it is also a color that these unique individuals can come together in. The color purple harbors all the unique individuals under one roof, without saying a word.
So whenever someone is wearing purple, I know they are being bold, being different, but above all, being an individual: being unique. They don’t need to say anything to anyone to get their message across. Quest Crew does not need to say much about their choice of the color purple. Look at what they’ve done for people, look at what they’ve done for me just by wearing the color. Just look at the increase in everyone wearing the color purple.
So go out, wear some purple. Be bold, be an individual, be unique, send your message.
WOOOOOOWWW ! Omgg they killed that jeez im speechles ..
…. the purple is the new the awesome (:
dang, lubna!! that was so deep..
cool!! purple will always rock!! purple is the new black..i think..lol
nicely written :]