WE HAD A TIME LAST NIGHT!!!
Or maybe it was just that I cut up a little too much. 🫣😂 Anywho I'm recovering from all the wonderful interactions, belly laughs, and witnessing history in the making.
From rewarding successful students with scholarships to recognizing and honoring community leaders like Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, MBA, GCCC, an enslaved woman's ascendant, who still carries on the work of her ancestor to this day. The energy last night left us all full of gratitude, motivated us to keep moving forward, and to be unstoppable while doing it.
All of this is not about us. It's not about our comfort or convenience. Its about those who are looking up to us, looking across from us, and the ones who will come after us.
Yes, I'm a descendant of many who were enslaved at one point in time. But my maternal blood line goes back over 200,000 years. My ancestors were apart of the Bantu expansion from east to west Africa and eventually America. So "slave" was NOT their name, race, or ethnicity. That word does not define their lives, who they were, nor their lineage. "Slave" was just a brief condition, and a temporary circumstance.
Hundreds of thousands of years before the global indoctrination of a slave trade was even thought of, my ancestors were farmers, cultivators, healers, architects, innovators, warriors, and leaders. That is the blood that runs through my veins.
Just as my ancestors have always done, I defied the odds. I came into this industry almost 21 years ago knowing nothing. In that time I dug deep and carved out a space that is custom designed just for me. I endured difficult but temporary conditions and circumstances because that was a part of the journey. I'm exactly who and where I'm supposed to be.
Our unique essence drew us here, to such an industry, at such a place and a time, so that we could help pave a way, just as the ones before us, for people like us. Not charity nor entitlement got us here, hard work, dedication, and a many sleepless nights did.
I'm at the top because I out-learn, out-study, out-think, and out-work all my competitors. I pay attention to the details and I see what others don't. That comes from practice, not privilege.
We look to our past, not to define us, but to build a better future. As for me, I rest on the shoulders of greatness and my future is looking pretty damn bright. 🌞
In closing, I have a message for all the carriers, vendors and organizations out there who turned tail on their diverse initiatives because of unsubstantiated political pressure, let me say this to your leadership. If you don't have any hesitation collecting premiums from your diverse customer base, then you shouldn't have any hesitation about using that same money to support diversity promoting causes.
Looking forward to seeing everyone stand on business for the rest of 2026 and beyond. 🥳
#NAAIASTL #STILLIRISESTL2026 #RISE2026 #ISAIDWHATISAID
