Dear younger Self, young Woman, “Babygirl,” these four things remember always:  

Pray. 

You are from women who prayed: Louvenia who blessed you before you were you. Bessie Mae who sang music into your bones. Eddie Carol who wove her work ethic into your heart. Prayer kept them. It will keep you, Babygirl. Solid. Whole. Unshakeable.   

Practice. 

You are from women of the pen:  Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Gloria Naylor, Lorraine Hansberry, and Virginia Hamilton who kept you reading – who breathed life into your warrior pen that kept you writing. Keep practicing, Babygirl. It will keep you. Focused. Honest. Strong. 

Persevere. 

You are from women of greens and cornbread: aunts, a mother-in-law, and Sunday school teachers who fed you from the wisdom of their scars, who carved steadfastness into your palate, who showed you how to rise. Keep keeping, Babygirl. It will keep you. Tall. Fierce. Wise. 

Play. 

You are from girls with pigtails: dancing barefoot in the rain on a sunny day. Hopscotch and Double Dutch and Simon Says and checkers-not-chess gave you charisma. Shootin’ marbles atop the Louisiana soil with girls who were emeralds. They made you. Witty. Spicy. Royal. 

Remember always, the women who raised you… to pray, to practice, to persevere, to play. 

With love and gratitude, 

Mary Lorraine, “Raine”