Daily Inspiration: Meet Mason Ewing

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mason Ewing

Hi Mason, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hello to all the readers! To introduce myself, my name is Mason Ewing. What can I say about myself other than that I am a passionate lover of the artistic world, having received multiple titles and being recognized as the first blind fashion designer and film producer in the world. If I were to go back to my past, it all began on April 9, 1982, the day I was born in Douala, Cameroon. What reassures me, after everything I’ve been through in my life, is that I was born in love. My mother was a wonderful woman named Marie, who was of Cameroonian and Italian descent and of Jewish faith. My father was also a Jewish American. Until January 1989, I lived happily in Africa, a magnificent continent where I was cherished. Unfortunately, a few years before 1989, in 1986, my mother Marie was killed by some members of my own family.

In January 1989, I moved to France to live with my uncle and aunt. When I left for this country, I was just a child and didn’t understand that a tragic destiny awaited me, a fate I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. In 1989, I was in my 7th year. I arrived in a country I didn’t know, which was completely foreign to me. And since I was just a child, I had no choice; no one asked for my opinion. I was torn from the arms of my great-grandmother, who had raised me after my mother Marie’s death. Upon arriving at this aunt’s house, who had come to fetch me from Cameroon, as soon as I set foot on French soil, hell began for me. This ordeal lasted eight years. And as I say, I don’t know what word can accurately describe all the horror that the child I was at that time went through. Everything I experienced lasted from the age of six and a half until I was fourteen and a half. I’m sorry, but when I tell this story, which is my own, I suffer deeply. Is it possible that the child I once was could have endured such abominable mistreatment, such barbarity? How could my uncle and aunt have done all those horrible things to me and never once given me any attention, love, or respect?

I can tell you that today, things are good for me. If I decided to testify and tell my story, it’s not to complain, not to make people cry, but to let them know that now, I have become an incredible person thanks to my past. I may have lost everything in my childhood, but I’m still here, and I’m still standing strong. After all the years I lived and the atrocities I endured, I eventually lost my sight. I, Mason, was born with sight, and at 14, I lost my vision after falling into a coma for three weeks. When I came back to life, unfortunately, I could no longer walk, and I was blind. But let me reassure you: losing my sight was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have no regrets. I tell myself that all of this was my destiny; it was written somewhere. God had reserved another path for me: the path of fighting now for all the blind people in this world.
My mission is very simple: I want to show the whole world that people with disabilities and blindness are no different from all of you. Whether we are able-bodied or disabled, we are all equal, we are all children of the world and of freedom. Unfortunately, people often fear the blind, and it saddens me, and I don’t understand why.

As I was telling you, the things I endured during those 8 years of my childhood shaped who I am today. When I arrived in France at the age of 6, I lived in the Paris suburbs with my tormentors, my uncle and aunt, who were abominable people who never once showed me any love. Every day, I woke up early to clean the entire apartment because I was their slave, and this was before going to elementary school. A few days after moving in with my uncle and aunt, the horror began. Without knowing why, it was daily insults. They started beating me for no reason, hitting me with iron bars and heavy clubs all over my body—my head, arms, legs. Sometimes it lasted for hours. And because they were evil people, they also loved to punish me, even if I hadn’t done anything wrong—just because I had cleaned but missed a spot. For example, if I hadn’t noticed a stain on the furniture or didn’t wash a dish properly, my aunt would decide to punish me. The punishments were unimaginable for a child or even a human being.

To explain, one thing my aunt loved to do was take me to the bathroom, force my eyes wide open, and then take a large spoonful of chili. Next to her was a jar filled with chili paste. She would take a big spoonful of chili and, while forcing my eyes open, spread the chili paste all over my eyes. After smearing the chili on my eyes, she would spread it on my genitals. I had to stay like that for hours until she decided to take me to the bathroom to wash off the chili she had put on me. Another thing she and her husband loved to do sometimes was make me kneel in the hallway of the apartment where we lived. I had to stretch out my arms, and on the palms of my hands, she would place dictionaries or rocks, and my arms had to stay stretched out like that for hours. Since I was small, weak, and skinny, unfortunately, my arms would give out. Either the dictionaries or rocks would fall from my hands, or my arms would drop because it was too heavy. In that case, my uncle would take a lighter and matches and end up burning my arms. And because it hurt so much, I would scream in pain and be forced to lift my arms very quickly. But it was truly horrible! I lived like that for 8 years. I don’t know how I survived. One year, they locked me in a room, and I wasn’t allowed to go to school, go outside, or have friends. Eating was complicated. I wasn’t even allowed to use the bathroom. Every night I slept on the floor, sometimes on a mattress. This family member loved to insult me. My story is too long, and everything I went through is too abominable.

Then, one day, at the age of 11, I started running away a lot. I would escape from home to go to the police and seek help because I wanted someone to protect me—I was just a child. I was only 11 years old the first time I started running away. I ran away many times, more than a hundred. Unfortunately, in 1993, the police in France didn’t believe me. The law enforcement officers were very cruel to me, even though I was just a child in need of help. It often happened that the police would beat me, telling me they didn’t believe me, that I was a liar, and sometimes they would even lock me up in cells. They called my abusers numerous times to come pick me up because, to them, everything I was saying was so horrible they didn’t want to believe it. So, I went through several depressions because there was no one to save me or help me. I had to fight on my own my entire life. To make a long story short, one day I fell into a coma for three weeks because of everything I had endured. My body and brain were weakened and couldn’t take it anymore. It caused a violent epileptic seizure that sent me into a coma

I ended up with pounds and pounds of mucus in my skull. I had been hit so many times with iron bars and clubs on the head that it compressed my brain, and I found myself with a large amount of mucus. I was between life and death. Unfortunately, three weeks later, I lost my life and died in a hospital in France at the age of 14. But God is great! Just as they were about to take me to the morgue, even though I was declared dead, for some reason, I came back to life. Sadly, when I woke up from the coma, I had lost my eyesight; I could no longer see, and my legs no longer worked. But when I was discharged from the hospital, I decided to fight because I knew I had no choice. Thankfully, today I can walk again, but unfortunately, my vision never returned. That’s okay—it was my destiny.
After leaving the hospital, they didn’t want to send me back to my uncle and aunt. Instead, they placed me in shelters and foster homes. But even there, I suffered abuse from the families. They called me a “dirty Black,” and some foster families fed me dog food. Others compared me to an animal and told me that I didn’t deserve to live and that Black people deserved to be burned. Then, at 19, the judge and social workers who were following my case decided to put me on the street. Unfortunately, I had nowhere to go, so at 19 years old, I found myself blind, homeless, and without any identification. It was a nightmare for someone who couldn’t see! It’s horrible for anyone living on the streets, whether they can see or not.

What I can tell the world is that I’ve lost everything: my mother was killed, my father died, I lost both of my brothers, and I became an orphan at a very young age. In France, I was sexually abused by a caregiver, and the French government chose to do nothing. I was never protected. I endured everything imaginable for a child on this planet, but I’m still here. Today, I’m happy because I’m realizing my dreams in the artistic world as a fashion designer and working in the film industry. I even opened my own publishing house.
What I want to say to everyone is that I don’t want to harbor hatred or bitterness. I no longer want to see my uncle and aunt because they are toxic to my life, but I have forgiven them, and I’m moving forward. I’ll even tell you something: if I had to choose another destiny, I would still choose the same story. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back if necessary, taking the same path because everything I went through made me who I am today—a strong man, creative, and fearless. After everything I’ve lived through, no one can destroy me anymore. I’ve even written my autobiography called The Eyes of Destiny, which is available everywhere, including on Amazon.
Currently, I’ve settled in the United States, where I’ve met several wonderful people like my godmother Eliza Roberts and her husband Eric, who support me tremendously and are there for me, as well as other personalities from Los Angeles like John Blyth Barrymore, Carl Graves from the band Oingo Boingo, Calista Carradine, the daughter of David Carradine, former senator Diane Watson, and even producer Stephen Nemeth, who believe in me and support me, not to mention all the others. I’ll never thank them enough for being by my side. Thank you to them for believing in a blind person with talent and not being afraid of me. I’m in the most beautiful city in the world, Los Angeles. This is home; it’s happiness! I’m so happy to have opened my company here, the Mason Ewing Corporation.

What I want to say to people is please, I’m looking for investors, and there’s no need to be afraid to support people with disabilities because there are many who have talent. I’m looking for funds and stores willing to work with me for my clothing brand, Madison Color. For anyone who wants to contribute to my GoFundMe, please don’t hesitate, and thank you for reading my story! The best thing I want to say to victims is to keep hope because if I managed to get through it, so can you—nothing is impossible! Just because you’ve been abandoned, have no family, or have become disabled doesn’t mean your life is doomed. I’m living proof of that. So stay strong, and may the force be with everyone! And as I often say, if anyone wants to contact me, you can find me on Instagram.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The artistic world is primarily a world for the sighted, especially for those who want to enter it. But it’s important to remember that I could see until I was 14 years old, which means I still have memories, and my visual fields continue to function. I can still perceive light, day and night, and shadows. Sometimes, I can even make out faces or colors. It’s as if my vision chooses what it wants to see.

I remember the very first time I told many journalists in France that I wanted to get into fashion. I won’t lie, no one took me seriously. Many people thought I was either crazy or a scammer. A blind person wanting to get into fashion and launch a clothing brand called Madison Color with Braille on it seemed impossible to everyone because, in 2005, clothing with Braille didn’t exist—nobody was talking about it in France or anywhere else in the world. Then, when I announced that I wanted to enter the film industry, that surprised people too. But to produce films, you don’t need to see. And to write films, since I’m a screenwriter, sight isn’t necessary either. However, directing a film, doing set design, or even dressing actors and actresses seemed nearly impossible, according to industry professionals.
So I started by proving myself in fashion, organizing numerous fashion shows across France and around the world. Then, as a producer, I began producing my first short films, which I directed myself. I’ve made more than a dozen. It’s true that it wasn’t easy at first. I had to develop a system to direct my first short film despite my disability. I also met incredible teams who trusted me. At the same time, I think they found it strange, but it was a challenge, and it worked! I’m having a blast!

Now that I’ve settled in Los Angeles, I want to show what I’m capable of with a new “business card”. I’m currently producing a horror film called The Raven’s Circle. I co-wrote it with a young, promising DP screenwriter named Stephanie Michelle Neil. She’s incredible and passionate! We clicked right away, which is why I decided to work with her. I prefer to surround myself with trustworthy people. For example, since I’m involved in costume design, I brought on an experienced Hollywood costume designer named Samantha Kuester, who is very talented. It’s exciting to work with her.

I love challenges! For instance, in my film, there will be four French actors: Louis Lopez, Zacharie Malek, Baba Wild, and Eric April, who will shoot this film here in Los Angeles. The cast also includes two strong personalities from the film industry who have decided to trust me: John Blyth Barrymore and Eric Roberts, along with his wife, Eliza. For me, it’s incredible because the film industry is very tough, but my challenge was to convince them, and I succeeded.
To build a top-notch team, I also asked Carl Graves, one of the singers and keyboardists from the band Oingo Boingo, to compose the music for The Raven’s Circle. Knowing that all these people trust me, a blind producer and director, is wonderful! I’m proud to say they are my friends, and I thank them for this show of confidence. My disability didn’t scare them at all—on the contrary. So yes, thanks to my horror film, it’s going to be a challenge: convincing Hollywood producers that my disability is a strength!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Fashion is a true passion! When I prepare for a fashion show, I love to immerse myself fully until the end. I have my teams, and I trust them. I am their eyes, and they are mine. I like to say that sometimes the sighted are in the dark, while I, who am blind, am in the light—meaning my eyes are wide open. I’m preparing a fashion show for 2025. I’m very particular about the physical appearance of the male and female models. I’m a big fan of natural looks. I love working with models who are easygoing, who keep things simple, and are down-to-earth.

To give you an example, the face of my brand is Louis Lopez. He’s a 20-year-old French model. Why did I choose him for the Madison Color brand? Because I’m very strict with my own casting of models. I want the male or female model representing Madison Color, or even Baby Madison, to embody simplicity and humanity, and I want them to feel at ease with my company. With Mason Ewing Couture, I want to create the most beautiful dresses and suits in the world, dressing Hollywood celebrities and politicians. That’s my goal because I aim high, and for me, it’s a challenge.
The Mason Ewing Corporation and its subsidiaries are positioned in the luxury market. That’s why I’m very demanding in my work. I know my next show, which will be called Revenge here in Los Angeles, will be impressive and surprising. I love surprising my guests.
As for cinema, with my production company, Ewing Power Production, it’s a whole different story! When I’m in the film industry, I like to say that I’m having a blast! I’m someone who loves to dream. When I was mistreated and endured all those horrors, it was really the artistic world that saved me! I often say these professions are my first loves!
When I make a film, what I love today is ensuring the sound is perfect for blind people! People don’t realize that we, the visually impaired, see things differently: through sound! For example, the details of the image, the quality—these are crucial for me. I want it to be sharp and beautiful! I can’t quite explain it, but there’s a sort of light within me that tells me the image of my film is magnificent.

I believe that to make a good film, you need the whole package: a good script, the casting and acting, the costumes, the set design, and most importantly, as a blind person, I need to feel the film. Because if I can achieve that with my team, I will be able to convey it to everyone who watches it. That’s why it’s essential for my team to understand my vision and the way I work as a blind person. Another thing that’s impressive for me is that I must listen to my team because strength lies in unity. I often say I’m not alone—without a team, you can’t make a good film. And without my vision as a blind person, the film I’m currently producing, The Raven’s Circle, wouldn’t be accessible to everyone, both blind and sighted.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I want to thank life for giving me this incredible openness. In my company, one thing that is crucial for all of us is diversity and inclusion, and that’s what I love to showcase in my projects. Above all, my past and the loss of my vision have given me incredible creativity! I am grateful for all the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met around the world. Thanks to cinema, I grow every day. Evolving is part of my destiny.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://masonewingcorp.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mason_ewing_official/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masonewingoff
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MasonEwingOff
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@masonewingcorporation
• Other: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mason-create-clothing-for-the-blind?qid=4e9125391a307a72cacba612e96c5d98