As a child, I began writing out of survival, out of disbelief, certainly for love, to honor my hurts, and with fever dreams of creating a legacy. All of those realities still hold true today. And, If I am afraid of my own light and writing exposes such truth, me to myself, my dark and my light, then writing is an act of often scrupulous and reluctant courageousness. I am a Black, openly queer, adoptee, Survivor, and artist from Oakland, California. I come from love, although sometimes I don’t believe it because I was born out of the world of sex trade. The family that raised me, raised me with all the love they knew and occasionally I don’t believe that either, but I recognize the magic they shared with me, the gift of imagination, reading, writing, books, music, independence. Today, I take all the impressions that make me and write my own liberation and create my own visibility. I have honored the  compass in me that must investigate, expose, exonerate, humanize, and archive the stories of how the political imposes and shapes the personal in my life, my family and my wider community. Writing allows me to nurture and accept a mirror image that reflects my authenticity and humanity. 

 My Education 

I studied Sociology at UC Riverside with the mission to get my masters in Social Work to support youth and families experiencing separation within the American Placement System. Surprisingly, but not shockingly, I studied Dance as a major to achieve my larger than life dreams of becoming a professional dancer and master of local and global movement styles. Since 2019, I have been studying English with an emphasis in Creative Writing with the hopes of pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing as well. I have studied writing in community college and at Mills College now Northeastern University at Mills College. I have worked in fast food, retail, literacy programs that support Oakland youth, and been in English tutor in higher education. In the future, I wish to grow as a writer by exploring technical writing like proofreading, editing, copywrite particularly for marketing agencies, content creation agencies and publishing presses. Furthermore, I  am working towards the development of skills and experience in grant writing and the world of nonprofit overall. lastly, coming of age in Oakland which has various red light districts in other words, a high sex and labor trafficking areas, my awareness others captivity and struggle inspire me to make an impact on anti-human trafficking efforts, locally and across the state of California.