Commitment and Integrity: Happy Veterans Day

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!

Thirty one years ago, I was born to a woman who didn't know she could have children. I was a miracle baby. Due to some emotional and physical turmoil my mom was going through prior to her discovering she was carrying me, she was seriously considering suicide. I grew up always knowing this and always feeling extra special that my life had such an impact on my mom. 

The more I grew up, the more I got to know my mom and especially as I became a mother, I realized it was not just I that saved her life, but she, as well as countless others saved our lives collectively. 

For a single black woman to even live in a country where she can contemplate the taking of her life and not have that decision made for her is a freedom not to be taken lightly. In countries that have women and girls not even allowed to go to school, not be able to choose who they marry, not have access to medical care, not be able to walk with their face showing or know that they can choose education over slavery...I see my mother through a set of eyes that inspires me to fight for those women. I got that fight from her. We are all soldiers.

You see, my mother, has been through pains and hurts...unspeakable betrayals of trust at a very young age and she rose beyond that with a chin held high, eyes narrowed and jaw set on never allowing that to happen to her girls. Her commitment to being a woman of virtue poured out in her mothering. Her integrity in the face of injustice rings loud when the silent become comfortable. She was groomed to be a soldier, becoming a soldier just gave her a platform to stand and be respected for the woman of God she is. 

I dedicate this blog to not just her, but to all the other women who chose to fight for their country when no one would fight for them. I salute the women who made the sacrifices they did so that I could sit here in my pajamas, living openly with HIV, married to a white man and say...

Thank you.