In the weeks that followed the announcement that Darren Wilson would not be indicted in Ferguson, my life changed instantly. Directly following the announcement I went back to my dorm room and cried. I was tired of being angry and disappointed, tired of reminding my friends that, despite society’s actions to the contrary, their lives matter. But what I saw on social media was that  In less than an hour we were able to get nearly a hundred people who cared to come to our late-night vigil, and that was the beginning of the conversation about making positive social justice change in our community. In the weeks that followed, we held 2 blackouts, a march, a forum, and a planning session. In the semester that followed, I worked with a group of passionate student leaders to start a new student organization, Students Invested in Change.

One year later, I was part of a student group, USC2020 Vision, that presented university administration with a list of demands for making our campus more inclusive. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to find where you’re supposed to be. It’s been said that when your passion intersects the world’s greatest need you have found your purpose. In that spirit, my personal mission statement is to do as much as I can, for as many as I can, as often as I can.

Anywho, I took a couple years off to do election work and spent some time with a local nonprofit focused on building self-reliance in communities of color. Because I believe that education is a key component in building wealth and stability while increasing available opportunities for students of color, I’m going to law school. The plan is to find policy solutions that help close the achievement gap and the school-to-prison pipeline in order to give our students a fighting chance. Certainly, this won’t solve everything, but it’s at least a place to start.

I blog about life. And the only way I know to do that is through my own lens. Hopefully seeing things from a new perspective will open your eyes to something you’ve never thought about. And if you engage in the content, maybe I’ll learn a few things too.