GIVING FLOWERS: Funny Julius
Giving Flowers is a series where I show appreciation thru words and photos to those who show appreciation of others.
Today is all about Julius Stukes Jr. — or as you probably know him, Funny Julius. I’ve been a fan of Julius for years now — not only his comedy, but also how much he spreads love to others. I’ve always noticed that as an underlying theme of his. I’m a huge fan of people who aren’t afraid to openly support others, share their work, give them nonstop flowers and more. If you wanna say someone’s about the people, this is the perfect example.
If you aren’t familiar with his creative brain, start with my favorite of his works — Hello, White People. In this show, he asks white people around New York very candid questions about Black people/culture and the responses are.. haha. It’s great. He’s also behind Joke of the Day, Twitter Isn’t Real, and many other gems. Go see for yourself.
For this feature, Julius and I met up today in his neighborhood of Crown Heights as I just finished eating. Before everything, we embraced with a super long hug — one filled with compassion and the feeling of love and brotherhood. We spoke about everything from general life updates, family dynamics, public vs private schooling, and even the “to-prison” pipelines that the government plague us with. Julius is a smart guy, man. He taught me ALOT about how private school systems work, how they get paid, and more — all of which I never knew anything about. We also agreed that we both may need to slow down on the Black injustice books and articles just a bit. Shit can get heavy and weigh hard on us, so we’re gonna throw something lightheaded like Harry Potter in the mix now. It’s interesting, because the more we learn, the more we want to learn, the angrier we get, but still ready to learn more. Finding out new ways where all the racism and bullshit are literally intertwined into every facet of our life.. that’s tiring, we agreed. So yes, we’ll break it up with some Harry Potter soon.
We leave out and as we start walking down Eastern Parkway, I asked what he’s been working on lately. While I won’t personally reveal his latest project, just know he’s working on something that’ll draw you in like none other. As much as he’s done, he’s still pushing for more. Still pushing for new ways to be creative, leave his imprint, fuel his passions, and ultimately giving back. More important than the work itself is how he spoke about it — passionate like none other with true conviction. That’s what’s special about Julius. Whether you know him online or in-person, you can tell he really puts his all into shit. You can’t ask for more than that.
“As a creative, we don’t create for the recognition — we do it because it feels good.”
I really appreciated the part of the convo where we spoke very openly and candidly about support, what it looks like, how it feels to be slighted or undervalued and more. Although the credit and notoriety aren’t in his list of driving factors, I’ll tell anyone that I think Julius is way under-credited and undervalued. He’s an innovator and do-it-aller, both things I respect behind highly. You know, it’s an interesting thing.. I think often times the people who work the hardest or push things forward the most sometimes have to fight for the recognition. Something I think about sometimes.
At the end of our chat, I asked Julius three important questions as a follow up:
Me: What sparks your projects?
Julius: My projects are sparked by selflessness. I’m always trying to figure out how to collaborate with someone or how to put some attention on someone. I also ask myself “what’s missing from the culture?”
Me: What keeps you going day to day?
Julius: My family keeps me going. My friends. The people that believe in me. The youth. Those people who have no chance, that I could one day help give a chance to. Those are the people.
Me: Why is it important for you to show the love that you do? And the way you do?
Julius: The love was never given to me when I was starting out. I felt like I had to prove that I was worthy of being given love. I don’t want that to happen to others. I want to show love to people when they have 1 view on a week old video. It’s the talent that matters to me.
All thanks and gratitude to Julius. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, plus view all of his links here.
All photos taken by myself on 35mm film — Cinestill Daylight 400 and Kodak 400TX film, scan/dev at Photo Life.
