I see through my beliefs; my tears are my medicine.

I am here, standing on the shoulders of my ancestors. I am here to build upon the legacy of my people and extend the privileges that I have been granted.

I am here to bring agency to societal change.

I can understand cynicism, but I try not to dwell in it. It’s not simply a matter of faith, but of historical evidence. Admittedly, there isn't an overwhelming amount evidence, but enough to provide hope. Because for hope, we don’t really need certainty, only possibility.

My hope is that I can bring strength, understanding and awareness to the racial inequities and disproportional outcomes of success, which are a function of our nation's flawed systems of economy, law, and education.

My greatest fear lies in not disrupting historic outcomes and dismantling false narratives. My aim is to pay forward my personal privilege. For me, it is an effort to make the United States of America a truer representation of its values and ideals.

My legacy will be in transforming a school system that I now understand to question its willingness to meet the needs of the community and people it will serve.

I will continue to question how the systems our of society have treated me, how they will treat my son, and how it will treat the young people who I serve. The question will remain: How do our systems treat young people who look like me?

My goal is to effect change so that all of my students, who I see in me, will feel worthy and dignified in the spaces and places where they may not have been previously seen or heard.

I will be filled with love and joy when my son and all young people of our nation are able to acknowledge their own, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. put it, "Worth, Beauty, and Somebodiness."