2016 Has Been a...

*forgive my rambling* A faith walk.  2016 has been a faith walk. It's been one hell of a year so far, hasn't it? I mean as soon as the first week of January 2016 came, I was amped, in my groove, optimistic, and so ready to take my career to the next level. I'd been  back in the states for about 6 months by that time so the adjustment period was long gone for me. 

But, then shift started happening.

What seemed like every day, people started dying. People with reallly amazing jobs and talents that I just happened to be inspired by began to leave. People like..

Vanity

David Bowie

Daisy Lewellyn

Phiffe Dawg

Pat Summit

Zaha Hadid

Muhammed Ali

Prince

Prince

Prince.....

An artist that had entered my life when I was 7 years old and had been part of it ever since then. The one and only artist whose talent, skill, and creativity I used as a guide for my own. An artist whose passing I still have not been able to come to grips with...but...

People started dying. 

Bombings and mass shootings continued to happen all over the world, And right here. In America.

In our own neighborhoods. In front of convenience stores. In the clubs we partied at. In the office building we worked in. 

More and more people that I'd either gown up with or knew through mutual friends began passing away. Whether it had to do with health reasons, or because they felt that it  was just their time to to leave this life. 

With all of this happening, I began to feel like a part of me was dying.

The part that usually keeps me amped in my game and optimistic. I found my self in not just a creative drought but an emotional one as well. I was paralyzed by fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. Unable to create the way I knew how to and the way I wanted to.

But as the universe would always have it,  I came across an affirmation written by one of my dearest friends and creative soul sisters, Kaira Akita. This affirmation came at a perfect time and it puts into words everything many people like myself have been experiencing.

Here is an excerpt from her "AFFIRMATION FOR BLACK ARTISTS IN MOURNING"...I hope it helps you like it's been helping me:  

My divine wisdom tells me a shift is happening. I am part of a new tribe of messengers for a new time in the world. I claim my personal territory with my unique gifts, talents, and voice. I am part of the healing. I am a keeper of culture. I am a host of humanity. I am the answer to mourning.

Revival is inevitable. I am inevitable. This is not the end. This is the beginning. And though it feels I am in the middle of an overwhelming storm, I will brave it by staying committed to creating stories, strategies, spaces, and systems that reach the heart, mind, and machine of injustice. -Kaira Akita