Every year, I shatter my dreams and plans in a bid to find more freedom. I'm convinced that dreaming and planning have never been mutually exclusive so I dream and I plan and I shatter and dream and plan and find some freedom, lose some freedom, shatter and start again.
I am dedicated to a lifetime of enjoyment. I’m not really dedicated to loving or to social justice because these 2 bleed out of me, naturally, daily. So I have to fight for my freedom and enjoyment because loving well and fighting for equity in a White, male, Christian-centered world is exhausting. Therefore, I dream and I plan and I find freedoms I never knew I could have, and I bask in the glory of all that they are.
I am Black and woman, Black and coily-haired, Black and immigrant-but not really, Black and diasporic-but not exactly, Black and bisexual, Black and asexual, Black and hoe, Black and ethical, Black and educated, Black and polyglot, Black and traveler, Black and you-are-not-allowed-to-discriminate-in-front-of-me, Black and art-lover, Black and I-can't-do-life-with-you-if-you-don't-cook, Black and non-religious, Black and happy, Black and so much more.
So many have died for me to enjoy the liberties that I have today and I refuse to let them down... So, I dream and I plan towards a lifetime of more freedoms, daring adventures and all of the enjoyment my soul can ramp up.
***Inspired by the Black and… Project by my fellow Peace Corps Evacuee, Chenise Calhoun
*I write about travel here
