THE VANGUARD: LYSA COOPER

“Lysa Cooper is an OG. A visionary who befriended everyone influential, important, and relevant in the cultural arts community. In her youth she was a‘regular’ at Club Area in New York City where she partied with bohemians, celebrities, and socialites. Club Area was another World. A World that was only accessible through Page 6 of the New York Post and handful of downtown magazines. I had a front row seat as a ‘fly’ on the wall and by no means a member of the inner circle.”

On any given night there were A-list celebrities, the ‘in’ crowd, the who’s who of New York’s high society. Lysa Cooper was one of them, and I admired her because she represented young people of color who aspired to be different. She worked hard and positioned herself for a higher purpose and station in this life. 

She has been on the ‘cutting edge’ for over 4 decades and is a living legend. Lysa is the very definition of ‘Vanguard’ and the first to appear on Art Thug Magazine’s Front Cover.

To have an opportunity to speak with Lysa about her life journey is a gift and a blessing. I appreciate her and her contributions.  

TERRENCE SANDERS-SMITH – Lysa, thank you for taking the time to talk to me this morning. 

LC – Yesss. Hi.

TSS – Tell me, at this moment, right now, are you satisfied with your life and accomplishments? Are you content?

LC – I’m definitely not content. Self-content, yes. It’s hard to be content in the World right now considering what’s going on. Frustrated, maybe. I say this all the time: life is totally crazy but at least it’s not boring. I know, I’ve lived an exciting and fulfilled life. I have a great history and great memories. I’m also acutely aware that I have many years ahead of me. I’m curious to see what’s next. Especially in the world we live in and what’s it going to look like in the very near future. Content, hmmm, I still think there’s so much more to achieve. I suppose, maybe that means I’m an over achiever at the same time I feel like I’ve been standing still for a while. It almost feels like the most important thing the last few years is to be grounded.

TSS – Are you at peace with the World around you? Does Lysa have bad days? How do you stay above the fray?

LC – No, I’m not. We’re in the time of bad days right now. We all have bad days and good days. I think the most important thing is to have a practice and it can be anything. It can be dance, meditation, prayer, and cooking, whatever your medicine. I believe we all must have a real practice that nurtures the parasympathetic nervous system. You know something that really lets’ you be with yourself. It’s also very hard to have a practice right now.

TSS – Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m under the impression since an early age you developed a clear understanding of what was necessary to live your best life. How did you figure it out?

LC – I emancipated myself from my parents at a very young age, so I didn’t have to really answer to anybody except myself when I was a teenager. I was very lucky. I happened to be at the right place, at the right time, with the right people. That’s how the alchemy happened. I’m still fully immersed with my community, and I’m very interested in building and being part of a greater community.

TSS – Do you believe we are a product of our environment? No matter how hard you work, nothing’s going to change. Or do you believe we can manifest our dreams and bring them to fruition regardless of social class?

LC – Yes, and no. I hate the word manifest. There’s a matter of luck, and timing. I believe once you have everything you need, you can create real happiness. Whatever that might be. Funny, if you would have asked me this question 30 years ago it would be different. There’s a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ as you get older and you realize how important certain things are that make you happy, which are completely different than what you thought when you were younger.

TSS - Where were you born and raised? What did your parents do for a living? What was your experience growing up in your household? Did your upbringing have any effect on you becoming the woman you are today?

LC – I mean yeah, very much so, I’m sure. I was born in the Bronx, and I was raised in New York City and Long Island. I was adopted by a very cool party couple and there was a long period of good times but a lot of crazy times growing up in the 70’s. My parents got divorced when I was 14 or 15 years old. I was super lucky growing up in New York in the 70’s, which was the place to be. We had all these great artistic influences, TV was amazing, movies were amazing. There was fodder to learn from and being in New York you could be anywhere, at any time, with any person, and any kind of person. It wasn’t segregated by age, class, or anything. There was a unique and colorful palette going on at the time.

TSS – Let’s talk about your career past and present. Can you elaborate how you made a living and what inspired and or influenced you to believe you could be successful? Hindsight being 20/20 do you have any regrets? If you could get a restart, would you choose or do anything differently regarding your career path?

LC – I’ve had quite a few careers. I got my start in nightclubs, and restaurants. I worked for Brian McNally, and I opened Indochine. I worked at Club Area, back then. I probably had 9 jobs. I worked in the editorial department of Details Magazine and was Annie Flanders’s personal assistant.  I worked the elevator at Danceteria, I worked as a coat check girl, but I was horrible at it because I refused to touch fur. I was a bartender at Palladium, that was fun. So, a little bit of everything. I then shifted into styling because I was doing a bunch of production stuff for my photographer friends. I was with Aerosmith forever, Shakira, Rhianna, Beyonce, everybody. I think because I knew so many celebrities from being in nightclubs for so long it was an easy transition. Also, there was no such thing as a celebrity stylist back then, me and a few other folks kind of kicked that off. Now I work with a couple of brands, like Caddis, and I work in psychedelics. I don’t look at it as a career, I don’t participate with it as a career.  It’s a calling, and a gift.

TSS – You are now in your mid-50s, what are your thoughts on ageism and its victimization of women as opposed to men? Do you believe women are forced into an early retirement when they reach a certain age? Is there an unspoken shelf life for women?

LC – I don’t know if anybody can retire anymore, retirement? What are you talking about? If you are a woman by yourself, you must work until you die. Retirement? Are people retiring anymore? In that respect you have many women who step out of the limelight, but they are doing 8 or 9 different things. I also believe being older seems a lot cooler these days. I watched this podcast a few days ago and I never watch podcasts, but a friend sent it to me because the podcast was talking about something I have been saying forever which is: 2024, is going to be what 2020 should have been before the government started making fake money. Shit’s about to get weird and people are going to realize they have no money. I think people are realizing right now where all the money is going and there’s going to be a huge social shift around it.  Social awareness is saying that you’re going to have to have some skills, you can’t just be on Instagram talking about would do, could do, should do. You’re going to have to work again. And so, I have a funny feeling that a lot of women who were fired over the last 4 years will be re-hired because the kids that are there now don’t know how to do anything. They don’t know how to fix anything and don’t know how to have a conversation around it. They can’t have a conversation because they either feel harassed, abused, or attacked.

TSS – How long have you lived in Los Angeles? Why did you leave New York? What do you miss about New York, if anything, and what do you love and dislike about Los Angeles?

LC – I’ve never really been a LA fan; I just really love Venice and the beach. I officially gave up Crosby Street, in New York, in 2017. I’ve had a place in LA since 2003 going back and forth for work. Towards the end, my place on Crosby Street was like living in a shopping mall. It’s difficult for me to walk around that neighborhood now. I really do miss New York. To be honest, I’ve always known I would eventually move back. I do love Northern California, 25 minutes you’re in the mountains, 2 hours you’re in Mexico. I miss everything about New York, but I might be romanticizing because I miss old New York and I miss certain people that are there right now.

TSS – How would you define this chapter of your life? What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning and seize the day?

LC – What motivates me is that I don’t want to die in my bed. Right now, what I tell everyone our age, especially people of color, you must constantly be moving, and making exercise an integral part of your daily routine and practice. If you don’t want to do mental practice, just do physical practice. Also, I am very interested and motivated about everything that’s happening in the World right now.

TSS – My 8-year-old daughter Maya who I named after Maya Angelou is the co-publisher and editor of Art Thug Magazine. What advice could you give her and young women in hopes of living their best life?

LC – Get off your phone and get outside. More importantly than anything, have a strong relationship with nature because over the next 20 years it’s going to shift, change, and part of it will disappear. I also believe if you have a good relationship with Mother Earth, you’re bullet proof. Just be a bit more stringent with your time.

TSS – Thank you and I appreciate you.

LC – Thank you.

By Terrence Sanders-Smith Photographed by Chris Clinton Consigliere Nimai Kesten