I’m from the great city of Oakland, California, home of the Black Panthers Organization who fed me, protected me, educated me, and taught me about Sickle Cell Anemia. The Black Panthers were testing my people for Sickle Cell at a time when no one else seemed to care. Soul Sistah For My Folks, a favorite poet of mine, perfectly described this paradigm when she said, “when Black Folks start trying to get themselves together, it’s called a rebellion by non-Black folks.”

For my non-Black family,  consider me rebellious.

I’m also all about loving everyone and allowing them to live their lives as they see fit, and as long as everyone is of age and is capable of making decisions for themselves.

As a free spirit, who deeply believes in spirituality over religious traditions, I’m often conflicted when it comes to the teachings of the Black church. At times I wonder how my unwavering belief in God would have formed at such an early age without the teachings of the Black church.

I was not charged with giving birth to children of my own. It was a mutual agreement between me and the Universe. Instead, my calling has been to be a Mother to the world. As such, I have worked in the field of education for the majority of my adult life.

Working with our children and loving them as if they passed through me, has been my life’s calling. I have enjoyed every single minute of teaching and, most importantly, being taught by the youngest of the young.

The most important lessons I’ve learned from children are integrity and moral responsibility. When in the constant presence of children you can not talk the talk, without walking the walk. Children, in their spoken or unspoken honesty, will hold you accountable for how you show up in their lives.

I’ve experienced the greatest joys of my life in the presence of children. I’ve also experienced tragedies that have been debilitating. Tragedies that I now understand weren’t meant for me to “get over,” but they were lessons on how to manage unspeakable things over time.