“I lost myself a long time ago. I say this in a spirit of vulnerability and honesty. I have become merely a vessel for whom and how I serve. I am a Black woman, mother, wife, caregiver…, nonprofit leader, writer, poet, an imaginative spirit, a wildflower, a creative soul. As such, a traditional narrative would not do justice to the pain, joy, beauty, hope, love, fear, despair, and exhaustion that come with my everyday.”

by Shamyle Maya Dobbs