For Chambers Features highlights the journeys of folx in our community. They are willing (and brave enough) to offer an authentic account of where they are in their journey.
We hope that a peek into their journey will help you along your own.
Next Up - Michelle Nicole.
Michelle is a Criminal Justice Scholar.
Michelle is wearing the OMJ Shirt.
Where are y°u™?
“I am feeling fearful, yet determined.
About 5 years ago, I was earning my Master’s degree and pursuing some pretty well-established career goals. I was doing well, but I soon recognized that I had a choice to make. I could fully embrace who I was - a Black queer woman who was passionate about social change or I could be a successful young scholar in my field. The chances of achieving both, however, would be slim.
Gradually, I extended my justice education beyond the lecture halls as a public academic and began to envision a new career goal that could impact people in need of the knowledge I had access to. Through this work, I can teach and reach a wider and more engaged community than I probably ever could have at a single University and I can do so authentically through a variety of creative and collaborative mediums.
To own my values and reject the need to conform to the narrow view of what a social scientist should be was a very hard choice to make. But I am learning that I can gain much more by embracing spaces and people that truly reflect the type of world I want to live in. Over the past 2 years, I have helped hundreds of people understand complex justice issues and take practical action against injustice which serves as some confirmation that I am making the right decisions.
As I set out on this untraditional and perhaps uncertain path of entrepreneurship, I am hopeful that by using my gifts I will achieve a greater level of holistic success in all areas of my life.
I am feeling fearful, yet determined.”
Instagram: @passionandpower
Website: https://www.passionandpowerus.com/