I’ve struggled with answering these questions:

• “Who’s inspires you?”
• “Who is your role model?”
• “Who do you look up to?”

People don’t inspire me…

They’re inherently flawed (including me). I don’t worship celebrity culture. In fact, if you ask me if I have a favourite celebrity, it’d take me a long time to answer.

Recently, I became clear that my inspiration comes from, not who, but what…

What inspires me is telling my story in all its glory and with all its gory details. I tell it because women who lived 100-years ago and who looked like me were beaten for speaking out. It was illegal to teach a woman who looked like me to read and write. Thus, many women who looked like me went to their graves without ever being able to voice their stories.

I choose to speak up, speak out, and speak loudly. I want history to hear my voice and view my experiences through my own words in written, audio, and video formats. That’s what inspires me. Being heard hundreds of years from now.

#beahistorymaker