“And don’t you ever, ever, give up on YOU”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, 2022 Emmy Acceptance Speech
Hey Family,
Que “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, and meet me on the dance floor! This month, we are celebrating ourselves in our truest form. Let’s vow to connect with whatever brings us happiness and make space for abundant joy!
This month, let’s commit to falling back in love with what it means to be…ourselves!
This newsletter will be the first of a five part series examining personal freedom. The first element of personal freedom is form. I believe our formation is according to God’s design, which develops and takes shape according to the Most High’s plan for us. The journey to get here, through the creation pipeline, to taking our very first breath, is no easy feat. There was a careful crafting of each step of your evolution and right now, I am only talking about your physical existence.
You are not just one in a million. You are one in a HUNDRED million. Why? Because we scrapped and fought out (well, on average) 99,999,999 million sperm who all swam to meet the egg. Nearly 5,000 sperm make it into the uterus, out of that, nearly 1,000 sperm enter the fallopian tube, and from there, 200 sperm reach the egg and apply pressure to the zona pellucida to penetrate the egg. Just one penetrates and fertilizes the egg. Did you realize the egg actually chooses which sperm fertilizes it? To understand what it takes for an egg to survive, for sperm to make it, for embryos to develop, and how many odds are against us from the very beginning—I am in complete awe of the miracle of life! This is only the first miraculous step it took for us to begin the journey of life in the formation of a zygote. As the zygote continues its journey through the fallopian tube it becomes a morula. Upon reaching the uterus, it evolves into a blastocyst and the blastocyst attaches to the uterine lining for implantation. By the ninth week, a fetus evolves and will continue to grow in the womb of the birthing parent, if that is the destined path.
The process from day one to week nine is intense and complicated. We all know that life, if we are blessed to experience it after being carried by our parents for nine months, is filled with many joys and many challenges. We move from a formative experience in the womb to our formative years in life—learning our identities, being called by our names, learning our respective places in our families and communities, what we think, how we communicate, and how we relate to the outside world. Some morph into fitting and others take bold shape, no matter the method we learn to make space or fall into place. For many, this initial formation is restrictive and yet for others, it is where we find ourselves, or at least, elements of ourselves. As we begin to develop, more and more external forces begin to influence our original form.
Development, maturation, evolution…we don’t seek to be (stagnant), we seek to become, constantly evolving. After all, if stagnant waters are toxic and poisonous, how much more does that apply to human beings?
I remember the first time I heard my dear brother, Resmaa Menakem, say “you are not defective.” In my mind, I retorted, “of course not!” But when I slowed down and examined the many things society tells us about our outward appearances, our cultural identities, and frankly the way rights are given and so easily taken away, it is something that we need to be reminded of—daily. Despite the ways in which systemic oppression conspires against us and how difficult it can be to just take a breath, we are worthy of being reminded that when God looks at us who were knitted together fearfully and wonderfully—it is, we are, GOOD.
Form is directly correlated to our freedom to be…
In the purest form God is… and in our truest form, so are we. We are brilliant, we are beautiful, we are bold.
Speaking of the bold and the beautiful, can we get into New York Fashion Week (NYFW)? When I tell you that my melanated people did not come to play this year…We showed up and showed out! The designers, aesthetics, outfits, colors, and the LEWKS took over New York and broke the internet, confirming once again that we really are, A VIBE.
I LOVE NYFW because I get to tap into a space that brings me so much joy! My love for fashion goes back to my childhood. I used to sit under my mom who was a dynamic seamstress in her spare time. From matching outfits with her (and of course, my dolls) to having the opportunity to design my prom dress that she sewed–not to mention all of the incredible ski outfits, fashion was a central part of our mother-daughter bonding time.
Even though I grew up with a heavy emphasis on education because of her role as an administrator at a community college, fashion gave me a creative way to express myself, and y’all know I love expressing exactly what’s on my mind!
In the midst of a new political storm brewing everyday, NYFW was a little reminder to myself that I can (and I will) wear these stilettos, put on my bright pink outfit, and still ensure you understand that these GOP governors are out of line for kidnapping undocumented people who just came to this country to find a better life–ALL at the same damn time!
Regardless of how young or old we think we are, how much we try to convince ourselves we don’t have the time, or how we might self-sabotage our way into thinking we don’t deserve it…WE DO, YOU DO.
Every month I challenge you to push beyond the boundaries, and this time won’t be any different. Make sure you make time for things that bring back memories that sound just as good as Earth Wind and Fire, feel just as cozy as your favorite fall sweater, and help bring you back to your truest… form.
Sending you all the love, joy, freedom, justice, and power you can stand.
Righteously and cheerfully,
In Case You Missed It…
INTERN SPOTLIGHT
Every month, we are highlighting the achievements of the interns in our Professional Development Program. From marketing to media, our 2023 Cohorts are the BEST!
