Featured photo: 25-year-old Emari Suggs with mother Charise Key-Grey
Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
The annual “This Is Me” special needs fashion show took place Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Sloan Museum of Discovery, and keeps growing in popularity and impact.
The models, who all have various special needs, were way more confident than in the previous years for this year’s show, according to Tracy Palmer, founder of the “This is Me” fashion show.
“They opened up more; they shared their talents more,” Palmer added.
Palmer also said she was excited about all the “new things” she observed during the annual fashion show this year.
Palmer explained to the Courier prior to the show that besides having a superhero theme for the 2024 show, another thing that would make this year different is the fact the show would honor a 14-year-old young man named Hunter Mooring who had autism. This would have been his first year in “This Is Me.”
Morring unfortunately died in a fire on March 7, 2024
“We honored him and presented his mother with a backdrop with him on there,” Palmer said. “We were wearing buttons. Everything was green because that was his favorite color. So, we celebrated him in a lot of small ways that made it really, really big.”
Morring’s younger sister, Bonnie Mooring, was also diagnosed with autism, and she modeled in the show, which took place at the Sloan Museum of Discovery.
“She had a wonderful time! His mom (Olivia Kushuba) is also not just a mom to her children. She’s also an employee of the Sloan Museum. So, she was a huge part of the event’s success. She was so happy to have not only resources that she didn’t know about, but we’re her family now. She has people she can lean on and talk to now. She was extremely grateful for what we did.”
One This is Me participant, Antionette Watson, who is in her 20s, was a designer for the show this year.
“She has cerebral palsy. Her clothing line was Cerebral Palsy Awareness. That was absolutely amazing! She made a different shirt for every single participant, and she did a wonderful job.”
Another participant, 21-year-old Drevon Broadnax, is a guitarist. He performed the song “Show You Care.”
“He sung a song along with playing the guitar, and he wrote the song! That was just so amazing! It was beautiful! The crowd was in awe of him. They gave him a standing ovation, and it was just amazing!”
Additionally, Brandon Miller opens the show each year by playing the drums as a soloist.
“That’s what I set out to do is give them a space where they can be comfortable in their talents and their beauty.”
Not only did Palmer receive flowers from 25-year-old Emari Suggs, who has participated in the show all six years, but Emari Suggs also received a plaque from Palmer. That plaque read “Our #1 This Is Me Superhero! Thank you for saving us.”
Charise Key-Grey, Suggs’ mother, told the Courier her son was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 ½.
She also said the superhero theme “connected the dots.” She recalled how she began to collaborate with Palmer years ago.
“Tracy and I go to church together. We’ve been really good friends for many years. I would take my son to her fashion shows. I would take Emari. He would get so excited. My son is known for wearing cool socks. The wilder they are, the better they are for him. That’s him expressing himself – basically saying: ‘This is me. Accept me for who I am’ So, I just mentioned it to her. I said: ‘I would love for him to be in a fashion show and for him to get a chance to model his socks.’ Within a day, she called me and said she’d prayed about it, and God told her to do it,”
When Palmer said this to Key-Grey, after thanking her, Key-Grey told Palmer God wanted her to tell Palmer that “This Is Me” would be the biggest thing she had ever touched.
“And I was right,” stated Key-Grey. “It has just grown over the years. Here we are, it was our sixth show. It was a sold-out crowd, with standing room only. God continues to bless it. Every year we get more sponsors. We get more companies contributing to their (the models’) backpacks.”
The number of differently abled models has also grown to 26.
As the show continues to grow, Suggs’ mother said Suggs will travel with it as a top model. She noted this traveling for the show has already begun.
Key-Grey pointed out Suggs enjoys music, roller skating, going to Florida every spring for vacation, good meals and, of course, fashion.
Key-Grey also said her son has saved others by showing her, the family and others he comes in contact with the true meaning of unconditional love.
“I like to tell all parents who are raising a differently abled child that it doesn’t stop them. It doesn’t stop them from being active in the community. It doesn’t stop them from shining and being happy and being a super hero.”
