To Those Who came Before Me
This is an open letter to all those who came before me.
To those who paved , built , and walked through the perilous path of life before me.
To those who are still living , breathing , fighting , and surviving everyday single day
You are my living heroes.
To those who no longer have breath in their lungs or a beat in their hearts yet whose spirits
continue to thrive and live on beyond the grave
You are my guardians.
This is to my ancestors and forerunners those that I knew in this and to those that
I will only know in eternity.
You are a part of me literally an integral part of who I am injected into my very DNA.
A twisted rope- ladder of identity , dreams , hopes , experiences , and life that I carry
within my very bones while your legacy courses through my veins.
I am writing to you as your very legacy that continues to thrive , strive , and fight
every single day of my life.
I want you to know that everything that you struggled , fought , sacrificed, and toiled over
in your life has come to fruition.
I want you to know that your descendants have risen above the injustice and oppression of the
past.
Yet I know that there is still more work to be done and more battles to be fought.
Thank you for gifting me the will and fire in my very soul to speak up for and fight for my
rights.
Yet also thank you for the strength , resilience , and stubbornness to never give up.
I traveled back to my homeland and I walked through the exact steep , tough , rough and
dust-ridden paths that you paved.
Through the cold and wet tea-leave fields that those who came before me tilled and planted.
But you did not just plant tea in those fields in fact when I looked and listened closely I
knew that
your hopes , dreams, and even legacies were also strewn and planted in those fields.
It seemed as if the very earth and the ground that I was walking on was filled with your
stories and lives and thus my history.
I visited and waded in the very river and falls that you fought for my very freedom in even
though I was not yet in existence.
In that moment I felt your spirits resulting throughout the water , forest and
leaves until the very wind that carried them entered and nudged against my skin.
Then suddenly in that very moment something changed in the very core of who I was. Suddenly I was whole because inside of me something clicked and a piece of my heart and soul
that I never knew came into place .
I finally knew and connected with my roots and
identity and knowing your stories lit a fire and passion in my belly.
I realized that everything I have is because you fought , sacrificed , and even died to bring to pass. I am your very hopes and dreams realized and trust me I will never let your voices or
legacies be shut down or silenced for I know that my voice is merely your echo.
This is the end of my open letter and I hope that it finds you well
Thank you