A Year, Apart..

a year later, so much has transpired..

nah, not #GeorgeFloyd - #DearMomma.

this date marks the 1-year anniversary of my Momma passing away.. the world changed.. my world changed.. waking up to missed calls and texts from my siblings on the other side of the country.. #Chicago and #Atlanta, to be exact.. i knew what it was about.. i knew my Momma was gone.. and about a week or two later, my daughter was conceived.. i need folks to sit with that reality (that was not a reality to me until some time later when i found out)..

i chose this image, as it was a moment for #DearMomma.. graduating from high school (s/o to my homie for the pic credit, better known as a Pulitzer Prize winner all up on your MSNBC screens).. in a foreign land.. with a gold sash around my neck signifying that i was different in a good way, that i did something to make her proud.. she was sick, then, too (which was around the time i stopped taking pictures with her).. as she was for most of my life.. i just remember it being a time that she bragged about her baby boy.. i would aim to make more of those moments happen..

later in the day, Mr. Floyd would become front and center.. i was angry on too many levels.. i was staring at an #Equity issue.. i was staring at a #HealthEquity issue.. both of which related to my Momma.. yet, i was faced with America's issue, while unable to deal with my own, even more personal, issues.. the reality is that, to this day, i've only dealt with this same issue, not #DearMomma..

on the work front, i became more vocal.. i could not remain silent.. my brain wasn't silent, so why should others be? i wanted everyone to "get this work".. i wanted this moment to last longer than my ability to mourn for my mother.. i pushed those feelings aside, and dove head-first into changing the narrative around this conversation.. it started at home.. being able to make an impact where i worked.. channeling my anger, turning it into content that would be absorbed through a myriad of conversations - leading to me addressing my Global People & Culture colleagues all across the world.. i sit on D&I Councils/Groups working to advance things from conversations to collective compliance and understanding.. found my way to being an International Co-Chair addressing Health Equity.. all while watching my Auntie lead the way..

i just did what i knew to do when i was without my Momma - make her proud..

and now? a year later.. am i better? in many ways, yes, but not in the ways i would have imagined just 13 months ago.. i would say that i'm greater, which would speak to growth, not ego.. i have a greater capacity to learn and understand.. to be a bridge and a connector.. i'm greater due to the birth of my daughter.. she increased my capacity to be more patient during impatient times.. to manage my expectations against my goals.. to work on being more additive, not directive or as an individual.. i did those things before, but today? i'm greater in those areas.. technically speaking, i did not add the skills i was looking to add a year ago.. yet, the skills that i did add? the skills that i refined?? i'm much more of an asset, and not close to being anyone's liability..

and that's something that i learned from my Momma.. to find a way to make an impact, a difference - without it feeling like it cost anyone anything but their attention.. something like George Floyd did.. #LetItMarinate

#MyMommasChild #AChildYetToMournTheLossOfHisMomma

Q.