“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise.”
—Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise”
As black people in this country, we are often taught that we have to be one thing or another. As a little girl in elementary school, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I was often steered in one direction.
“Be a doctor or a lawyer, Tiffany.”
“Be a teacher or a writer.”
I mean, think about it. Society teaches us that we are either “right” or “left” brainers — those people whose left side of the brain is more dominant tend to be mostly analytical in their thinking; whereas, those who are dominated by the right side of the brain tend to be more creative or artistic. Typically, we aren't told we can be “both sides of the brainers” (i.e., people who hone multiple skills and successfully pursue more than one passion at once). Rarely are we taught we can have the best of both worlds.