CHAPTER 22: RACING MENTORING AND MENTORING THE (E)RACED: Collecting Our Geniuses

Attending college was always on my radar, since being introduced to the television series, The Cosby Show and A Different World. To put it plainly, I yearned for that lifestyle of highbrow and classy music, art, and comedy alongside fantastical and respectable careers. Growing up, family members constantly told me that I was smart and that I should be a lawyer because, in their words, “I was not marriage material.” What my family did not know is that I did not want to simply become a lawyer, but thanks to Popeye’s Olive Oyl, I desired to be the first female president. Oddly, I did not realize as a child that being both a girl and Black in this country quickly eliminated many of my dream jobs.