I find myself thinking more and more of my eldest brother James. I was the youngest of 3 and the only girl, and he took his big brother duties pretty serious. Growing up in Detroit, there were many bad decisions and wrong turns I could have made, and he equipped me as best as possible to avoid them…even though he didn’t do this for his own life.
I was a pretty timid kid, the peacemaker of the family and the one they seemed to seek some level of approval from. Going into my teenage years like this could have meant a different life from the one I have now. James, however, taught me two very important lessons (of many) that shape the way I look and go about things: never make a decision you’re not willing to own and not to complain if I’m not willing to do something about it.
I remember the 2008 Presidential election cycle with mixed emotions, most of them positive. I was a California State Democratic Delegate who was going to vote for either the first African-American candidate or first female candidate. This was enormous, something that my grandparents never got to see.
Between relocating to a new state (physically and mentally), doing a fast deep dive into my new community and running for office this time last year, I decided to take a few steps back and quietly figure out what I want to do next and the best place to do it. It was tough at first, to go cold turkey in openly sharing my thoughts and feelings, but it was worth it. Now I’m ready to come back to this.