Community Leader

posted in: More Than My Mugshot | 0

My true, heart-felt life-long passion and love is for people. I’ve always loved people. I’m Irish, Cherokee, and Black; I have Hispanic family members. I get along with everyone and I’m a talker.

I’m from a town where racism is in your face. Here, it’s under the table. I’m aware of it and try to help people move past it. Connections can change that. I understand the power of real conversations, so when I ask people how you doing? I actually want to hear how you’re doing. I’m into that intimacy, that honesty.

I’m trying to bring that here. I don’t want the art of conversation, the real communication to die for me.

The other thing you’d miss is that I’m a motivator. I’ve been a motivator since my single digits. I remember being eight years old and in the yard with piles of leaves all around us. We kids would tell stories to pass time, and the neighbor kids would always ask me to tell their stories for them. Looking back, it makes sense: I empower people by helping them work through their own experiences. By recognizing the value in their own narratives.

If you only saw my record, you would miss that. It’s like I tell others: my do is not my who. And neither is yours.