What makes you powerful?                                                                         

 

What makes me powerful? I am survivor and choose everyday to rise above what was given to me. I think what makes me powerful is that I get to define what life I lead and I get to choose how I will live. For so much of my life is was put into a box or filed in a cabinet that a caseworker will never look at. I choose to not live in that dusty filing cabinet but to be out loud and shine as bright as I can. My community empowers me with love and pours into me dreams of liberation. I would not be here with the support from my chosen tribe, they inspire me to be better and embody so much of what the world has deemed unacceptable.

 

What message would you offer for current, former, and future Black and LGBTQ+ young people impacted by the system?                                                                                                                 

 

There is nothing more spiritual than the black queer body. It has been put on peddle stool to be mocked and directed, yet it is the most beautiful being. To be black and queer is to know the truth of this world. The power that we hold is something that cannot be defined  by a definition but only as a lived experience.

 

It is hard. It is messy. There is no magical spell that happens when you grow up and everything just goes away. Healing is a life journey and finding your truth and path is not meant to be easy, our lived  experiences are what make us but it us up to us to choose how we will move forward.

 

There is no perfect answer. You are your best advocate, you know what it is best for you and you know what you need. 

 

We have to choose freedom and take it because no one will hand it to you.

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