“I think one of the biggest things is that whenever I think of the hardships that I’ve faced, the prejudices or even just any struggles that I’ve had, it kind of reminds me back to thinking about all of those ancestors. Those slaves that survived the middle passage because they thought their great-great grandchildren would have an opportunity at something. Or they kept continuing to work, or they kept trying once they were free to try to make their lives better even though they faced prejudice, or them trying to vote, or to march with Dr. Martin Luther King. All of those experiences, when I’m struggling, help me to realize, look, you can push past this. You can keep going, and you can make the world not only better for yourself and your family but for everyone else. And as we look at it as a problem not only just for ourselves but a communal problem, a problem we have with society, and we keep pushing through it, I think that that connection can help us realize that we need to be doing more, and we can do more. 

“I definitely am grateful to be black. I want to say that I am very proud to be black and I love my heritage and I love being a part of that culture. And I hope that I can transcend stereotypes given to people of my community. I hope that people can look at me as a kid that wants to be a doctor. I’m going to Columbia University for medical school and I hope that people can look at it and be like, “wow, this is a kid that excels. And not only just a black kid who excels but a kid who excels. And when they look at me they can say “hey, the stereotype doesn’t fit for all people”. You know, black people are more than just their skin color. They’re more than what society has labeled them to be. And they’re just as able to do all of the things that other people are able to do. And I hope that other people, especially of other races, can kind of see that this isn’t just something that people are crying about, it isn’t just something we’re making up. This is something that’s real that we have to face every single day. And that when people, especially of other races, come along and help in that fight that it’s not really making it a black and white issue but an everyone versus racism issue and I really hope that’s what we can do with all of these movements that are going on.

“My hope is that my kids can grow up in a society where they’re skin color doesn’t matter, where their diversity is celebrated, where no matter what type of background you come from you can have opportunities. Not even just for my kids, but for all kids in the future. ​