A half-American Indigenous , half-black woman raised in the ’80s by a single mother, R’s American Dream didn’t quite fit the narrative; hers was one of ambition, perseverance and “beating the system” with the goal to get out of poverty.
R’s foundation in faith as well as her childhood experiences lead back to her mother, her grandmother, and her grandfather.
HER MOTHER
R remembers her mother’s three hour commute every day on public transportation. She remembered how her mother advocated for her when other children wouldn’t play with her in the sandbox, when she was first called the n-word, and when her school left her in the recreation room all day because no one was able to re-braid her hair after lice checks. But, R’s mom also expected independence from a young age, molding her resilience. And, when her mother’s marriage began influencing R’s success, the situation lit a fire to R’s back, motivating her to do whatever it took to get herself out of her apartment and toward the life she wanted.
HER GRANDMOTHER
A primary role model in her life, R recalls telling her grandmother that she wanted to be a schoolteacher just like her. But R didn’t understand that her grandmother’s career choices had been slim as a woman of color with a degree in the fifties. “Are you crazy?” her grandmother responded, “You could be so much more!” And that was the way it was with R’s grandmother: she repeated to R from a very young age that she was a brilliant, ambitious, special young lady who should always be thinking bigger.
HER GRANDFATHER
R’s grandfather couldn’t read but that never stopped him from talking about the fish restaurant named after R that he would open when his stack of fantasized lottery winnings arrived at his door. He taught her to dream big while still demonstrating a content life full of love, modeling a healthy male figure despite turmoil in other relationships she observed throughout her childhood.
R is…
- 39 Years-Old
- Female, Cisgender
- Black
- From Native American-governed US town
- Christian
- Straight
