From Me to You

To my niece,

My wishes for you are so large they cannot be amassed into words, but I will try anyways. For you, I wish the world. I wish that you will live in a world of peace and justice. I wish that in your time you will live a full and successful life overflowing with joy and love. I wish that you live without judgement or at the very least you always know that you can always exist without judgement with me. I wish that you will see strong female leaders and aspire to lead and change just like them. More importantly, I wish that you see strong black female leaders like your mother and your grandmothers. I hope that you will see another black president, like Barack Obama, so that you will have someone to look up to and say “I can be president too, race doesn’t matter.” Just like I did, in November 2008. I am so glad that you will grow up in a world where you can play with Barbies that look just like you, unlike I was able to, or your mother, or grandmothers were able to. These dolls are monumental for women and girls everywhere to see accurate representation in the media at a young age. For you, I hope that by the time you are able to comprehend this letter you have seen my hopes and wishes for you in action. More importantly, I hope that you have hopes and wishes for yourself and that you will live in a world where those wishes can come true. I wish more than anything that you know that you are loved; by me, by your parents, by my parents, by their parents. Because you are deserving and capable of being loving and being loved. You are deserving of the love of everyone, no matter their creed, gender, or race. That is what matters the most, which is what I earnestly wish for you. So, my niece I wish for you to take these words and hit the ground running because I just cannot wait for it to happen. 

Yours,

McKenzie