FLINT, MI – Strutting the runway with a loud audience cheering them on, about 26 models showed off their outfits, excitement and smiles. The annual “This Is Me” special needs fashion show took place Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Sloan Museum of Discovery.
Related : ‘This Is Me’ fashion show in Flint will honor memory of a special boy This is the sixth year for the popular event. When asked why an inclusive event like this is important for a community like Flint, “This Is Me” founder Tracy Palmer put it simply: Because they deserve it. “Some people say, ‘Why me?’ I say, ‘Why not me?’ This is so important for them to feel like they are not alone,” Palmer said.
“Disability is not inability.” Palmer said the participants this year got more involved than before as one performed a drum solo and another played the guitar and sang a song. One participant, Antionette Watson, was thrilled to design all the cerebral palsy awareness shirts for one of the scenes, her parents said.
“Sometimes our kids aren’t included in regular stuff, so this is a space where they can shine and where she can be herself and be included,” Zoranda Watson said of her daughter Antionette, who has cerebral palsy. Zoranda Watson walks with her daughter Antionette Watson on the runway during the "This Is Me" special needs fashion show at the Sloan Museum of Discovery in Flint, Mich. on Sunday, Dec.
15, 2024. Antionette Watson designed the cerebral palsy awareness shirts for all the mo.
