A Little Rebel

My little pumpkin is sitting up these days (when properly propped with pillows). Riley is watched over by both me and a concerned Windsor.

The hat doesn’t really fit her yet, but it’s all about owning the look anyway, right? She is smiling a lot these days, reminding me daily that there are many reasons for joy.

One day she’ll learn about her grandba and grandma, who came as immigrants with so much to offer this country. I’ll read to her from our family’s history, now recorded forever in print and audiobook.

I wanted to tell her that the most powerful, important person in the world is a woman of color, like her. That conversation will now have to wait until she is older. But I can tell her that tens of millions of us wanted that future and are going to struggle until our last breaths to achieve it.

For now, my beautiful girl enters a challenging world, and I must prepare her to be a fighter so that it will not crush her spirit. Little Riley is already raising her head up straight and taking in the world, tracking my every move. She’s strong and alert.

As her Ba, I fully believe Riley can be anything and anyone she chooses to be. That’s a powerful feeling that is hard to fully describe. It has the colors of hope and the shape of determination.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Yours in resistance,

Jay