my identity as a Black child to a woman has never been a question for me until, it was.

it was April of 1979, my first day in California, we were waiting for our furniture to arrive from St. Louis. i was an only child then so, my fun, was being by myself.

i was literally outside singing in the rain with my clear umbrella with yellow trim, when a “white” boy approached me and the first thing he said to me was in the form of a question: “what are YOU?”

and, the first thing out of my 6-year-old sassy mouth with my hand on my hip and the proverbial neck roll was, “i’m Black!” this boy, proceeded to say, “NO YOU’RE NOT!” the shock that came over me. the bewilderment.

how dare this little boy have the audacity. “YES I AM”, i retorted. this continued back and forth until i ran into the house a yelled, “maaaaaa!!!” she replied, “what, Keli?” “what am ?” i asked. “that little white boy outs said i’m not Black!!!!” she looked at me, rolled her neck, lip pierced, and said, “you tell that little white boy, YOU ARE AFRO-AMERICAN!!!”

i did just that and have stood on my Black business ever since. it’s no wonder 10 years later we’d get into it and he’d come back with, “fu*k you-you n*gger b*tch!” that was the first time, i realized, you get “them” angry one good time, you’ll always be a “n*gger” (hard ‘r’).

fast forward to March 2023, Dr. Yaba Blay our beloved “cultural worker” and one of our sought out – Black thought leaders, asked me to tell her about the above experience, she was doing research for a project.

i don’t recall the first time I saw Yaba come across my Instagram feed, i know it was at least 10 years ago, however, i knew she was HER. she’s what is needed across the diaspora. she’s not only a champion for Black women and men, she’s a scholar, an author of, “One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race”, the documentarian of the short film “The Whites of Our Eyes”, the creator of, “Professional Black Girl” and most recently, artist in residence of “most incredible” where she was part of the collaboration with Lego – they made Lego bamboo earrings y’all, a staple for every Black girl in the 80s and 90s (and yes, i have mine).

i always knew i wanted her to be a guest on the conversation peace™. to be able to talk about her Ghanaian background, to calling out systemic racism and “white supremacy” or what i’d like to call it, “white culture”.

please join me and Yaba as we venture into new territory with no holds barred.

LoveAlways y’all