Reflection

I'm Still Here

the world, They were teaching me to speak up until

those in the back could hear me,

School was over. Time for the real world, Turned

out Dr. Simms was right, even when I didn't want

him to be, 5

Whiteness at Work

Confession: By the time I graduated from college,

l thought l was the white culture whisperer, I was

fearless, I thought any future encounters of racism

would rear their ugly heads like purple dragons,

and I had no doubt in my ability to slay racist non­

sense wherever I found it, l was so wrong, Far from

an imposing beast, I found that white supremacy is

more like a poison, It seeps into your mind, drip by

drip, until it makes you wonder if your perception

of reality is true,

Being a Black woman in the professional world

of majority-white nonprofit ministries was far more

difficult than my younger self could imagine, In

school I had been surrounded by whiteness, but

colleges often encourage students to question au­

thority, to navigate cultural conflicts, to be creative