Being a Voice for The Past, Present and Unfolding Future

I have the desire to be heard. To use my voice as an instrument so that I may add to the growing symphony of passion and revolution burning in the chests of the downtrodden, oppressed and desperate masses. My dream for my life is to break the cycle of despair and breathe joy and life into the world.

I have kept an online journal since I was in high school. It has been my way of recording my story so that, at the very least, I knew I was listening to myself. I wrote a lot of my despair, pain and turbulent teenage emotions into poems that I would share with my peers. It was my secret pride and joy - my ability to skillfully use words. It was in college through being part of the poetry community that I realized my voice was bigger than me. I was embraced by the slam poets because they were moved by the rawness of my words. I discovered that my journey spoke to many people in the audience. At the end of college, my poetry became more focused on my womanhood and development into my Afro-descendant identity.

After college, I continued to keep a blog and shifted my attention to my body. I had a lot of healing to do, from childhood sexual trauma to all the emotionally traumatic experiences I've had since. My words became confessional and liberating; my poetry became statements of power. At the end of 2011, I was introduced to this community and was blown away by how other women were courageously telling their stories from across the world. World Pulse as an international community stunned me.

I applied to Voices of the Future because there is a richness in the past and my healing from it that I need to share. I carefully choose my words, keeping them honest but moving in the direction of transformation. Too often, we know how to write about our pain and can dwell in it, retraumatizing ourselves again and again. I realized that on the journey I began on this site. Though it was healing to be supported, I felt that I needed to help move myself and other women into a place of transcendence. With my work as a doula, birth advocate and student midwife, my life has become a series of confrontations with death and the inevitable, glorious and long-awaited rebirth. My personal vision for my life is to evolve and put the past to rest while carrying its lessons into a new world that is forthcoming. To speak out about the ills in the world but with a voice of hope: that shedding light will bring a healing to our families and world that has not been seen in centuries. We can heal this world with our words. I know this because I am healing myself and those around me with my words. Peace.