Going Through It

The late actor Michael K. Williams and Aunjanue Ellis’s grandmother had one thing in common: neither needed words to tell Aunjanue how to follow her calling and be her truest self with confidence.

Zohran Mamdani’s college road trip through East Africa with his dad and uncle was a blissful tour of his heritage. Then he got his report card back.

When Sasheer Zamata enrolled at her university, she didn’t know where she was headed. A staging of a play by the school’s brand-new theater professor helped her find her purpose, her identity, and the confidence to try anything.

At 15, all Melissa Proctor wanted was a job at the local mall. Instead, advice from her mother helped her make history as the Miami Heat’s first ball girl.

As a teenager, Ijeoma Oluo thought male attention would validate her as a person worth knowing. A late night proclamation from a friend’s older sister snapped her back to reality.

Chani Nicholas first learned of astrology and healing from her step-grandmother. Although they didn’t remain close, Chani still honors her influence by trusting her own inner voice.

Being a leader in a field is hard. Being a leader in theoretical physics as a Black woman is a unique battle. When the weight of being one of the first became too heavy, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein turned to her mom for perspective.

When Randa Jarrar started her MFA program, she thought she was taking the next step on the path to success. That is until her professor, Leslie Marmon Silko, told her to drop out.

Lorena Borjas taught Chase Strangio many things over their decade of working together, including how to show up and fight for trans people in New York City. Her most important lesson? There’s always something to celebrate.

When Kelly Marie Tran was in middle school, a simple question from her dad – an immigrant to the US from Vietnam – changed the way she understood class, race and success in America.