06/11/2020
When the world listens to women, it listens to white women. For far too long, Black women’s voices have gone unheard, even though they’ve been using their voices loudly for centuries to enact change. Today, more than ever, it is NECESSARY that we create a unifying action to center Black women’s lives, stories, and calls to action. We need to listen to Black women.
This is why we created
I’m excited to take over the lovely Instagram account today!
Hope to see you on page😃
Today, black women will speak from the Instagram accounts of white women.
The intention of this campaign is to magnify Black women and the important work that they’re doing in order to catalyze the change that will only come when we truly hear each other’s voices. .
My work naturally centers around advocacy and being a voice within the community. I challenge and encourage others to not limit themselves to whatever they want to do in life. One of my major challenges growing up was being diagnosed with a rare breathing illness called Cystic Fibrosis. At first, the doctors thought I had asthma and misdiagnosed me as a child. It wasn't until I almost lost my life at the age of 10 years old in the hospital where they then diagnosed me with this illness. One of the main reasons for this misdiagnosis was because I was african american. They said that this illness was more common in caucasian americans and that it was rare for a person with my background to have this illness.
According to ghr.nlm.nih.gov "Cystic fibrosis is a common genetic disease within the white population in the United States. The disease occurs in 1 in 2,500 to 3,500 white newborns. Cystic fibrosis is less common in other ethnic groups, affecting about 1 in 17,000 African Americans and 1 in 31,000 Asian Americans."
We have to realize that cf can affect any ethnic background and to not judge based on that.
This diagnosis did not stop me from what I wanted to do in life. I wanted to redefine the outlook people have on cf. I Strive to be a positive role model and leave her mark on the world. I created Redefining Life — Cystic Fibrosis in December of 2016 as a way to give back to the community that I have grown to become a part of since I was young. It was launched a month later and having a pedestal to stand on and speak became a great asset to me. It gave me the voice to become a guest speaker at schools and programs at many different locations as well as leading to features on websites, podcasts, and interviews.
I am thankful for all that has supported me throughout my whole journey and wish to leave a legacy.
