African American man in California, USA

Tell a personal story from your own intersectional perspective growing up as a African American man in California, USA

Tell a story that only you can tell from your own intersectional perspective. What is it like to be a 33year old black man in California. And how have your multiple identities affected your experience in life. Treat this essay as a method to make sense of what you have gone through in life.

Things about me:
I’m 33years old.
I’ve attempted pursuing my college degree 3 times.
First time I dropped out because my mom was sick.
My second time I tried to return after her passing but I wasn’t healed and struggled with the realities of life without my mother who was a single parent.
My third time it felt like my last chance to go after my dreams and finally get to that place for myself I had always envisioned for myself and this was the wish of my mother before she died.
I endured a lot of trauma after her passing. Drugs. Alcohol. Isolation. These were symptoms that lead to obesity. Through my interactions with the world around me. Police brutality, incarceration statistics, successful black men percentage’s….I decided I could either let the world tell my story for me or I could pick myself up by my boot straps and write the story of my dreams. So my life has been a story of redemption while navigating the the bias, racist, and , prejudice foundation of the United States.