As the only child of a white mother and Black father I was compelled to examine my racial identity from an early age - seeking to understand my place in the world and how to navigate the complexity of social interactions in a country where everything is racialized - including my childhood. From how my parents met, the conditions of my upbringing, the challenges my father experienced because of his substance abuse and mental health challenges - systems of oppression were an invisible hand shaping the terrain of my formative years. In spite of those influences, my mother was committed to raising me in the safest and most stable environment as possible. I spent summers at summer camp, Friday nights guzzling Surge and inhaling popcorn with my friends during sleepovers, had a few part-time jobs (for spending money) and was the first of my social circle to have my own car.

My inherent proximity to whiteness, specifically, white-womanhood, impacted the way I moved through common experiences like school and work but especially how I learned to navigate conflict or leverage my positionality in service to myself and others.

Yet, while being socialized in a primarily white context (Kalamazoo was relatively diverse but I spent most of my familial time with my mom’s side of the family) - I was still phenotypically Black and as such, continued to experience the world as a (light-skinned) Black girl and later woman. Spending my early years in this grey area allowed me to develop a level of social agility and adaptability that has significant value in the work I do to advance racial justice. I spent my childhood and teenage years in Kalamazoo but recognized early on that I would outgrow the tight-knit community…