Dear College Freshmen,

Dear first-year college student,Congrats you made it to campus. Roll your sleeves up after you’re done using your sleeves to wipe your tears after saying that first goodbye to your parents. There’s so much work to be done and you will cry every time you’re dropped off to campus every year. The realization that you’re…

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Build Community Don’t Just Gather People

Volunteering/helping has always been my passion and on that same street, I’ve always been knowledge hungry about housing, specifically affordable housing. After reading “How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood,” I fed some of that hunger for knowledge and learned to no one’s surprise that gentrification isn’t just an…

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In Good Company: Juneteenth Should be Paid Day Off

As published in the next issue of The Valley Mirror… I know that Juneteenth wasn’t signed into a federal holiday until last year but some companies are completely missing the point when it comes to celebrating and creating an inclusive work culture. So many companies could have stepped up and created an inclusive culture by…

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Don’t Be Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf: How Fear Can Motivate You

Most people back away from things because of fear but after a little reflection I’ve learned that I might be motivated by fear and I have no idea when it happened. Back in 2012 (the first time I got laid off) when I lost my job after college most people would’ve panicked. Instead, I took…

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A is for Accountability

Growing up I’ve learned I’ll make mistakes. Growing up most of the time I was around my four brothers they resolved their conflicts by fighting and getting over it and occasionally they would not get over it right away but they got over it. Attending an all-girls university was a new ball game. Women play…

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Chief Chaos Coordinating: Are You Happy?

“Fact, the only thing I really figured outIs that I’ll never have it all figured out,” – Big Sean; All Figured Out Recently for the second time in my 34 years of life, I was laid off. That took a minute to digest but it wasn’t in a bad way. It had been seven years,…

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Anti-Hustle: It’s Time to Break Up with Hustle Culture

A few years ago I was into the “wake up and hustle” and “grind harder” mantras but that became exhausting. After a while, a light bulb went off and I realized that hustle culture was and is extremely toxic and not realistic or sustainable. Everything isn’t for everyone and hustle “go go go” just didn’t…

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Justice for Some

🗽🗽🗽Justice for Some America, your colors are showingForget red white and blueUnless you speak greenThe American government doesn’t give a damn about youIt’s capitalistic through and throughIt’s sold guns, jails and even people tooIt’s the American wayOur forefathers would sayBut honest Abe didn’t get gunned down with an AKWhile contently watching his playWe scream number…

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𝕌𝕟𝕤𝕦𝕓𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

We don’t want easier livesWe justWant to playBy the same gameEven the same rulesGiven the same toolsAttend the same prestigious schoolsGiven opportunitiesTo build the same wealthReside in towns whereWe all haveThe same qualityOf healthWe want thesame roadssame quality of homesAccess to theSame cheat codesBecause try harderisn’t gettingAny further inA systemThat wasn’t madeFor me Telling us…

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Gardens

New week. New poem for Black History Month. Interested in purchasing a poem or a book? American Hurt https://amzn.to/2U50UhBReturn to Sender https://amzn.to/31A3PCX 💐 💐 💐We are our ancestors wildest dreams as we grow where we are planted even in the garden of adversity.We grow roots from the soil assigned to us even if it is…

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