The first time I laid eyes on Belinda Becker, she was featured in a New York Times write-up titled “A D.J. Could Save Your Life Tonight.” In the photo, you can sense that she’s making magic through music. When I met Belinda at her home in Brooklyn last week, the peacefulness and warmth in her space and the way she carried herself was magnetic. Her apartment was decked out with colorful mementos and sentimental photos of her with her daughter. There were thriving plants soaking sun by a window and DJ setup right above shelves filled with vinyl records. Being in Belinda’s space and presence made me forget that it was a brutal 15 degrees outside. (Not an easy thing to do, especially when wind is so cold that it makes your eyes water and your hands feel like they’re going to fall off.)
After she brewed mint Moroccan tea for the two us, we sat in her living room to have chat. I couldn’t wait to learn more about Belinda, the 55-year-old DJ, dancer, activist, and single mom. She was born in Jamaica, and when she was 13, her family moved to the Cayman Islands, then to Florida. It was politically tense and violent in Jamaica, she shared.
When 22-year-old Belinda moved to New York City after graduating from college, she saw herself writing for magazines like The Rolling Stone.
“Of course, when I get to New York City, I have meetings with all of these magazines and they tell me, ‘You have no experience,'” she said.
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