I’m Learning

I Have No Reason to Ever Feel Inferior

I come from a rich lineage of Black excellence

Photo: Yadira G. Morel/Getty Images

“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave/I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”

— Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise”

In 2017 BC (before Covid-19), I had the opportunity to visit the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The former motel is now the home of the National Civil Rights Museum where visitors can see decades of activism and achievements of Black Americans on display.

I walked through exhibits showing the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Southern lynchings, the diner sit-ins, the freedom rides, and the exact place where Dr. King lost his life. It was heavy and somber and as I took it all in, I found myself overwhelmed with emotion and I started to cry. But I wasn’t sad or even angry or scared. I felt… Powerful.

Call For Submissions: How Does Our History Make You Feel Powerful?

If I’m being honest, “powerful” isn’t a word I would use to describe myself. I wouldn’t call myself a highly confident person. I’m…