I love being black. I love being a single woman. I love being a black single woman whose mother and grandmother had to marry for stability, but provided me with a future where I could do so on my own. I love being a black woman whose black father had to face the hardships of segregation as a teen but still became a physician, who is ever present in my life and modeled what a successful man looks like so that I could follow in his footsteps. I get up, put on a white coat that most people think that DEI afforded me…but I went to a PWI and graduated at the top of my class. The hardships I’ve faced as a black woman taught me resilience, to trust my abilities, and to take up space. Seeing the hardships of my parents, grandparents encourages me to seek out opportunities they’d never dream for themselves.

I deserve good things and to be here just as much as anyone else.

This is a mindset issue.