2020 and The Power of "Through"

What a difference time makes. So much has transpired since my last entry here on the blog. Obviously 2020 has thrown the world an unexpected and seemingly unstoppable curveball. A new pitch was thrown and consequently we are all thrown off.  COVID is something we all never saw coming and when the unknown occurs there are always more questions than answers. My return to college went from busy days of rehearsals, voice lessons, and masterclasses to uneventful zoom lessons and impossible virtual performances. Venturing out for something as simple as groceries began to feel like a life AND death decision. Pivotal milestones were missed due to the national lockdown and an inability to fly to loved ones and worst of all for myself and all Black people, while all of this transpired George Floyd Breonna Taylor, Ahumaud Arbery, and countless others were murdered simply for being Black.

Imagine attempting to navigate an unprecedented way of living and learning during a pandemic while simultaneously wondering If you could die from going outside or from simply being Black. It’s inconceivable isn’t it? And yet this is the hand 2020 has personally handed me. The news became a nightmare on my living room screen, only spewing terror and unhappy endings. Pain after pain had my heart in pieces and my soul sobbing for some sort of way out. How can I get through this?… How can I get through this?… How can I get…

Through…Through!

Through

/THro͞o/

preposition · adverb

continuing in time toward completion of (a process or period).

That was it! Like almost every question in my life the answer was right in front of me. The strongest, wisest, and most beautiful of people do not become so by getting out of their trials but by going through. I gritted my teeth through every zoom class and finished strong with a 3.6 GPA. I prayed, cried, and took endless action the second the Black Lives Matter movement took off, ( and I say endless action because the fight for Black lives is far from over) and found myself even further on fire for my people and even more in love with my Black self. I put on my mask every single time I went out and socially distanced myself through the grocery stores still looking my fellow humans in the eyes and saying sincere salutations. I kept going through.

This past Monday I had my first content shoot of 2020 and it felt phenomenal. Growing up in the Black church there’s a sure saying that you’re bound to hear. “ People might look at you crazy cause you don’t look like what you been through.” After receiving the pictures from my shoot that old saying made even more sense. I am a Black woman living in America in the year 2020 and I have been through the most…but I am getting through.

Lovelies, we all have our very unique versions of this year’s chapter in our lives, but there are a few things we all can share collectively to get through wisely, rightly, and best of all lovingly.

1. WEAR A MASK- There is nothing inconvenient about caring for yourself and others.

2. SUPPORT BLACK LIVES- purchase from a Black business, sign petitions to enact change, read books about systemic racism, do all you can to support Black lives and when you think you can’t think of me.

3. KEEP GOING THROUGH- You never know what you can achieve If you don’t try and you never know who you’re inspiring along the way. When you choose to go through you pave a path for others to follow. Don’t stop. Keep going.

Now, let’s all take a moment and go through these sensational shots of this beautiful Black woman not looking a day like what she’s been through. (Find the dress here)