Born Patrick in Port au Prince Haiti - Patty Cakes had a typical childhood. He/She/They were raised Seventh Day Advantist on one side of the family, and Roman Catholic on the other. Patty Cakes will be the first to tell you, in Catholic school she sat in the front row of class with the good girls. And at the cool kids table in the lunchroom. She grew up in Queens Village, New York, and attended three different high schools because of the turbulent years it took her parents’ separate. His parents' separation left him feeling invalidated and a mistake. These feelings were further compounded by him self identifying as gay, in a world where little Black boys walk around with targets on their back. Yes, he got the talk. If you’re unfamiliar, “the talk” is the conversation parents have with their Black sons on how to survive an interaction with the police. I got mine as my father was teaching me how to drive. I was sixteen years old. And, when I was twenty-six years old, that talk saved my life. I got out alive with only a minor bite and tear in my jeans from a k-9 officer.

 

He came out and ran away from home at the age of twenty. Discovered Patty Cakes at twenty-five. He has lived and worked in Paris, Boston, Washinton DC, Atlanta, and now Palm Springs.  His/Her/Their heart belongs to Haiti.  Wanna know more? You'll have to buy the book.