Tag Archives: Contributor

...I attended the Million Man March in Washington DC in 1995. I wasn’t prepared to write anything. But it was a historical event. I didn’t have lined paper nor a pen. I had a pencil and a napkin and began scribbling my verses. That ordeal resulted in the first book of poetry written about the March, titled “Messages from the Historic Million Man March”. I gravitated and graduated to more profound social and political issues as seen in the poem Años de Lágrimas (Years of Tears): I can hear my ancestors They’re being taken away… The screams piercing the air…

... Through my work, I am lucky and blessed to help enrich and empower girls and young women to pursue their intellectual pursuits with confidence, curiosity, and agency. This is my purpose! This is what I was born to do. Just today at our Circle of Peace, which is a daily community gathering amongst students and staff, I recited the Horizons pledge to remind our scholars that we are all sisters in this:  I promise to lift other girls up, have their backs, and make it safe for them to be exactly who they are. Every time I look in the mirror, I’ll remind myself that I am not alone, that I am beautiful, that my voice matters, and that I am enough. To anyone and everyone, including all of the young women that I have served and will serve, THANK YOU for making a difference in my life! Though that imposter syndrome creeps up every now and then, you all are the remedy that treats me every time! I am enough and so are you!  Next week, we will celebrate all things GIRL and everything that we have accomplished, persevered through, and fought for. It is a day where we uplift girls and women all around us, all over the world, those who are silenced and those who have amplified, past and present, here and now. What a day to celebrate women and girls! I challenge you to make a promise and commitment to continue to make an impact in a girl’s life. 

Let me ask this: what happens when children don’t have “Real Models” to look up to? What happens when the very people that brought children into this world don’t exemplify healthy love? What happens when children don’t have a village? What if I said, “When the community children stop crying, the community is dying.”  I invite you to stop reading for a moment and think about that. I was reared in a time where as soon as the street light came on I had to be back at the house. A time where if I was doing something I had no business it was OK for someone from the village to say, “All right now, you know better. Do I need to call your grandparents?” A time where grandma always had a home-cooked meal. I was reared to be respectful, yes mam/ no mam, or yes sir/no sir

Adolescence can be a difficult time. Trying to develop independence, finding yourself, body changes and first loves. For me I had a wonderful childhood, however, when adolescence hit, things changed. I tried to fit in and experience all the things I was SUPPOSED to according to society's norms. Those experiences didn't work for me, and I thought there was something wrong with me. My way of dealing with it was to use drugs, alcohol and engage in self-destructive behaviors. There were no support groups, no one to talk to about my confusion. I went on through my teens and twenties struggling to fit in. At the age of 28 I kissed a woman and my life changed...

I’ve been considered selfish in my lifetime and hard to work with, I’ve been called a bitch (I may have earned that one a few times), and as an adolescent, I followed through with a plan to take my own life. Just one of these behaviors is enough for some people to distance themselves. Luckily, I have had people in my life who have stuck by me. They gave me the support I needed to grow, to learn, and most importantly, they gave me multiple chances. I think about this when I’m working with families who are struggling, when I’m facilitating structured support groups for youth, and when I’m showing up for my friends and family.  How I show up is important to me.

Mother’s Day is around the corner and the nation is absorbing a reality in which 42 percent of Americans who can give birth will likely lose their reproductive freedom within the coming months. So how can we best honor our mothers this Sunday? Trust them. Believe them when they tell you they have a detailed understanding of the opportunities and limitations of their lives. They may be

I always knew that I had the heart to help people, but I was not clear on the path to go about it. When I think back to how I got where I am, I am often taken back to this specific time. I was a first-year at Arcadia University and I was opening a bank account for the first time all by myself. I do not remember a lot of it. It was such a mundane errand to run, but what I do remember is a conversation that I had with the bank teller. She was asking me what my major was and I told her that I wanted to go into a trauma counseling field. Then, she asked me if I experienced anything similar to what they have. I told her no. She shifted into a more serious tone and asked me how I was going to relate to anything that they tell me if I have not gone through it. That one conversation made me question my decisions. How was I going to counsel if I could never relate? Now, I am a mental health counselor intern at a high school in Philadelphia. After spending some time learning my way around and getting to know some of the youth, they have started to open up to me

The One Circle Foundation blog is actively seeking guest writers. Email blog@onecirclefoundation.org to pitch a blog post and inquire about becoming a One Circle Foundation blog contributor.