Beyond the work that I do for my 9 to 5, I am blessed to have one outstanding client. His name is Solomon, and he has signed on to my agency for life. Understanding that as people our earliest "marketing" matters, I named him on a beach in Bahia after the "wisest king" in the Bible to pave his path for greatness in a time when the pride and potential of living alongside our nation's first Black president is often psychologically eclipsed by the pain and reality of mass incarceration, police brutality and metastasized racism.
Because I subscribe to the belief that our children choose us as parents (along with their life circumstances), to me intentionality -- both as a concept and an approach -- is key. It is why when I found out I was pregnant I chose to have him in New York -- what I consider to be the greatest city in the world, and the place I have been blessed to fulfill many of my life dreams -- to include him. It is also why, in large part, I chose to leave it: as a single mom acutely aware of the potential pitfalls and statistics surrounding young Black boys I believed -- despite having been away from my family of origin for nearly 20 years -- I could better facilitate his success from a financial, emotional, educational and environmental standpoint with the help of my parents, retired educators, and brothers, two of them military academy grads.
I cultivated much of this thoughtful approach to the "creation of one's life" in a professional capacity. As an journalist my job has been to pose a question, ponder and research the factors at play and then attempt to answer it. It's been to identify a "problem," actual or perceived, lay out an argument and, in the process, oftentimes, form and present a solution. Depending on how invested you are in the process, subject matter and/or addressing the issue for your targeted community, intentionality comes into play: sometimes the work presents you with an opportunity to serve a higher purpose -- to challenge people's perceptions of each other or themselves.
Because I subscribe to the belief that our children choose us as parents (along with their life circumstances), to me intentionality -- both as a concept and an approach -- is key. It is why when I found out I was pregnant I chose to have him in New York -- what I consider to be the greatest city in the world, and the place I have been blessed to fulfill many of my life dreams -- to include him. It is also why, in large part, I chose to leave it: as a single mom acutely aware of the potential pitfalls and statistics surrounding young Black boys I believed -- despite having been away from my family of origin for nearly 20 years -- I could better facilitate his success from a financial, emotional, educational and environmental standpoint with the help of my parents, retired educators, and brothers, two of them military academy grads.
I cultivated much of this thoughtful approach to the "creation of one's life" in a professional capacity. As an journalist my job has been to pose a question, ponder and research the factors at play and then attempt to answer it. It's been to identify a "problem," actual or perceived, lay out an argument and, in the process, oftentimes, form and present a solution. Depending on how invested you are in the process, subject matter and/or addressing the issue for your targeted community, intentionality comes into play: sometimes the work presents you with an opportunity to serve a higher purpose -- to challenge people's perceptions of each other or themselves.
In order to do this well, I have found that it helps to serve as your own guinea pig, identifying personal characteristics and "opportunities" within to "be the change you wish to see."
As my son's "master consultant," I know this is important as, throughout life, he is more likely to do as I do, not as I say. And having signed our spiritual contract with that level of awareness I have thrown down the gauntlet to myself to do the best I can to model success in all areas of life without trampling on any definition of "success" he later defines for himself.
To me this means never ceasing to work on myself to include checking my ego for the benefit of my client. It also means maintaining an attitude of joy and a spirit of helpfulness despite the challenges that come my way as I constantly morph into whoever my "client" needs me to be -- whether that be cook, chauffeur, seamstress, confidante or coach. After all Solomon wasn't the only one who signed up for this journey; I signed up for it as well.
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