This is part five of Beyond The Magic. The purpose of the Beyond The Magic storytelling project is to highlight the full experiences and humanity of Black women; beyond our magic and beyond the expectations of others. Interested in contributing to this project? Let’s connect!

How do you define Black Girl Magic?

I define this as young Black girls and women defying any and all limitations society tries to place on us and accomplishing the goals and desires of our heart.

How do you define Black Excellence?

Black excellence is Black people being successful in their respective fields and accomplishments, despite the challenges and roadblocks that have been put in place for hundreds of years to keep us from being all that we can be.

What does it look like to hold space for grief?

I think holding space for grief means giving yourself grace and not being so hard on yourself for taking all the time you need to process grief. It's allowing yourself to have a place and time to embrace and feel all of the feelings that come with grief---anger, bitterness, sadness, frustration, etc.

What does it look like to hold space for joy?

Holding space for joy is taking time throughout the day to reflect on all of the small, beautiful things that have made that day joyful for you. I think this means always finding something good about a situation or moment, even when it seems like there's nothing good to be found.

Pause and think about all the stereotypes, expectations, or assumptions placed on Black women. What do you want to say to counter those stereotypes/expectations/assumptions? What's your truth?

Black women are not a monolith. We come in all shapes and sizes, we all have different views and tastes when it comes to music, fashion, love, etc. Yes, we can be strong and angry (just like any other human being), but we are so much more than that and we should be represented as such. By relying on the constant stereotypes used to define us and not taking the time to actually get to know us as individuals, you are missing out---point, blank, period.

"I am home when..."

I am free to be my full, unapologetic self.

"Justice is..."

When society realizes that one kind of life isn't more important than another

"Love is..."

being at peace.

What words of wisdom would you give to your childhood self?

Don't get so caught up in the opinions of others.

What words of wisdom do you think your childhood self would give to you now?

Take time to reflect and celebrate all of the good things instead of focusing so much on the bad things.

Describe the main theme in a sitcom or movie about your life.

The main theme would be about a girl who's finally coming into herself and who she's meant to be

What songs do you have on rotation now? Why?

“Beginning, Middle and End” from the third To All The Boys soundtrack. It's such a great song about love coming when you least expect it and everyone having a person out there just for them.

“Lonely” from Machine Gun Kelly. I first heard it when he performed on SNL... I resonated with the song because it reflects on him losing his father and that even when you're surrounded by folks, you can still feel so alone if that person is no longer there. These are feelings that I still feel more than a year after losing my dad.

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