When They Call You a Terrorist

In the quiet corners of a peeling apartment complex, where the paint chips away like forgotten dreams, a young girl grows up surrounded by the hum of a multiracial neighborhood. This is not a place of privilege or ease; it is a world where the police patrol like omnipresent shadows, where children play in narrow alleys instead of lush parks, and where every day carries the weight of survival. From the very beginning, the realities of systemic oppression are woven into the fabric of life.

Her mother works tirelessly, juggling multiple jobs to keep the family afloat, while the father, a man marked by addiction and absence, drifts in and out of their lives. The siblings, tall and strong, navigate a world that sees them as threats rather than children. Police officers stop them in alleys, frisk them without cause, and imprint on their young minds the message that their very existence is suspect. Yet amidst this, love threads through the family like an unbreakable lifeline, a quilt stitched from resilience and hope.

The neighborhood itself is a stark study in contrasts. Less than a mile away, manicured lawns and shiny cars mark the boundaries of wealth and whiteness, a world seemingly untouched by the struggles that define the girl's daily reality. The only grocery store nearby is a 7-Eleven, and the local pool is a faded, neglected patch of blue. But here, in this overlooked place, the seeds of resistance are planted. The girl watches her brothers protect stray animals, care for fallen birds, and hold each other close. She learns that survival is not just about enduring hardship but about nurturing life in all its forms.

Her early encounters with the law are not abstract concepts but visceral experiences. At nine years old, she witnesses her brothers being roughly searched and humiliated by police officers. The silence that follows is heavy, a shared understanding that speaking out may bring more harm than healing. This moment becomes a quiet catalyst, a recognition of the systemic forces arrayed against her community.

School offers a brief glimpse of possibility, a place where she is once considered gifted and bright. But as she moves into middle school, the disparities become glaringly clear. The gifted program is a world away, both physically and culturally, from her home. Here, she feels the sting of poverty and difference, the shame of not fitting in, and the weight of lowered expectations. Her journey is marked by the tension between hope and harsh reality.

Through it all, the girl carries the legacy of her ancestors—survivors of slavery and oppression who refused to be erased. She is stardust, born of resilience and the unyielding will to live and love despite the odds. This foundation of strength and struggle sets the stage for the path she will choose: one of activism, love, and unrelenting fight for freedom.

As we move forward, we will explore how this early life shaped her understanding of systemic racism and the forces that seek to control and diminish Black lives, and how that understanding fueled the birth of a movement that would reverberate across the globe.