Did you miss me? It's been two years since my last post. If you've followed my blog over the years, you know I'm always working on multiple projects while working on myself. That's one thing that hasn't changed about who I am. The last 23 months have been about me looking inward and doing some uncomfortable but healing and freeing work both with a therapist and of course, on my own. While this was happening, I moved to a district-level position in the school system I served formally as a SPED teacher, became an adjunct professor at the graduate and undergraduate level, settled into my new neighborhood, and created a sanctuary out of my new place. I've become even more outspoken about issues that impact young people, women, and people of color. I've become especially Black woman-centered because our contributions and worth have not being recognized or valued. I've always felt this, but more so after this Breonna Taylor was murdered. It reminded of the countless Black women who were murdered at the hands of the police, by men they loved. Then it reminded me about how black women's bodies have been objectified, mocked, and tested on, sexualized, bottle, and sold for white consumption throughout history and the present day; how no one blinks when we are beaten or go missing I thought about my personal and professional experiences with microaggressions about the way I dressed, how I spoke, the way I wore my hair; the times my credibility and professionalism were questioned. I reflected on the many times that I did not speak up, because no one else modeled for me how to do it. But I learned that it's okay if I learned as I went and that if I had to be the first in some rooms, then I had to be the first. My voice has been amplified and it's not going anywhere because while I've always known that part of my purpose was to help other's find their voice by using mine, I never realized how necessary it truly was.
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