On a Full Heart and a World on Fire: A Note on Building Legacies in a State of Emergency

Friends,

It’s the end of September, and I find myself in a season of profound contradictions. On a personal level, my life is wonderfully, chaotically full. I’m deep in my work as a PhD candidate, wrestling with the dense, beautiful, and often painful intersections of Humanities, Political Science, and African American Studies. I’ve also taken on a second job as a tutor at the historic Clark Atlanta University, and the energy of being on an HBCU campus, helping to shape the next generation of thinkers, is a joy I can’t quite describe.

Between my academic work, my roles as the Special Events Chair and Brookhaven Community Chair for the DeKalb Dems have been incredibly rewarding. This month, I’m proud to say we produced a series of weekly virtual candidate forums. I had the privilege of planning, directing, writing the questions for, and even moderating one of the events myself. And all of this is, of course, anchored by my most important role: being a full-time mom.

Life is great, but life is full. And I have to be honest with you all: in this season, I know I haven’t been a great friend. I haven't responded to many texts or returned every call. Please know that it is not a reflection of my love for you, but a reflection of the moment we are in and the work it demands.

And that is the core of the contradiction. In the midst of my personal fulfillment, the world seems to be systematically falling apart. In less than two hours, as I write this, the United States federal government is expected to shut down, and the extremist faction of the Republican party seems intent on ensuring it is for a significant amount of time.

This is not a routine political spat. Historically, government shutdowns are damaging, but this one feels different. It is not a good-faith negotiation; it is a raw exercise in hostage-taking, wielded by a party faction that seems to favor chaos over governance. The longest shutdown in history, which occurred under the Occupant's last administration, lasted 35 days (2018-2019) and cost the American economy an estimated $11 billion (CBO, 2019). Today, the stakes feel even higher, as essential services and the paychecks of millions of federal workers are used as pawns in an ideological war.

This is the macro-level chaos. The micro-level is just as chilling. The reports of ICE “kidnapping” people continue unabated. The occupant of the White House persists in his efforts to exert federal control over majority-Black cities, a project of disenfranchisement I have written about before. Vital public media institutions like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funded PBS and NPR, have already been casualties of these political games, creating information deserts across our country. The ideological vacuum is being actively filled with administration-approved "patriotic education" curricula that can only be described as a form of white nationalist propaganda.

We are watching a world where people are losing their jobs for having the moral clarity to call out racism. It feels as if the nation has turned its back on the very Black and Brown people who are its heart and soul. The data backs up this feeling: in the last several months alone, the labor force has seen an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Black women, a demographic that has historically been a bellwether for the nation’s economic health. This is not an accident; it is the consequence of a targeted political and economic assault.

Even our moments of cultural triumph are fraught. The announcement that the brilliant Bad Bunny, an Afro-Latino artist, will be performing at the Super Bowl should be an unequivocal win for our communities. Yet, it has been met with a torrent of anti-Latino sentiment. What is most hurtful, however, is watching some of my own Black people disparage him and his art. This is a win for us. The diaspora is vast, beautiful, and interconnected. My hope is that he takes that stage and performs entirely in Spanish, with no closed captions—a bold, unapologetic celebration of his culture in front of the world. But the controversy begs the question that hangs over everything right now: Where is our humanity?

What is happening to this country? It is easy to despair, to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the tragedies. And in our community, we are grieving the constant loss of our heroes, and we must fiercely protect and cherish our living revolutionary elders, like the indomitable Queen Assata Shakur, who are a constant reminder of what this fight has always cost. But as a woman of faith, I am anchored by the belief that God has the final say. My hope is that we can alchemize these tragedies into a renewed commitment to becoming better people and building a better society.

For me, that means I am still building my legacy. My work manifests in the leadership roles I am so honored to hold, and it manifests in my bookstore, Reparations Books & Cafe. This is not just a store; it is a safe space, a community hub where the books they are banning are on the front shelves, where our stories are celebrated, and where our knowledge is the currency. I plan to remain a leader in my community, all while being the best mom I can be.

The fight is here, and we all have a role to play. So here is your call to action:

1. Tune In Tomorrow: Join me and the DeKalb Democrats as we host our next "Meet the Candidates" event. Let’s stay informed together. Register here: https://www.mobilize.us/dekalbcountydemocrats/event/837031/

2. Support Black Enterprise: My store is one of many. Please check us out online at www.reparationsbooksandcafe.com. When you support us, you support our entire community.

3. Check Your Registration. NOW. Georgia’s current Secretary of State has presided over a system that has stripped nearly half a million Georgians from the voter rolls in recent years. Double and triple-check your registration status. Do not let them silence you.

4. Support the Change: There is a brilliant and courageous young man running to be that change. Adrian Consonery is running for Secretary of State of Georgia. He is a new voice with the integrity this moment demands. Please follow him (IG: @ajforga, Twitter: @ajforga), and if you can, please DONATE to his campaign.

5. Vote in November: It is our most sacred right and our most powerful weapon. Be the change you want to see in the world.

In this season, I urge you to focus on your own legacy and do what is necessary to ensure that your family not only survives this crisis but is positioned to thrive on the other side.

This is our FUBU moment. For Us, By Us.

Thank you all for your grace and support.Prayers, love, and guidance in this season.

References

Congressional Budget Office. (2019). The effects of the partial shutdown on the U.S. economy. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/54922