Uploaded August 2017 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
"I was born in the middle of the drug war. When crack came into our community, it was like a bomb went off.
My mom went into prison when I was 5. I was in an abusive home situation with my dad. I was the oldest and I had an 8-year-old sister and 1.5-year-old brother.
After many years of living in constant fear, I was like, ‘we gotta go.’ That was the scariest thing I think I’ve ever done. I ended up staying with four different foster families. I stayed in the system ‘til I was 21.
I decided to do a masters in special education, and it became clear to me that the students didn’t have disabilities. Their environment was ‘disabling.’ I ended up helping develop programs connecting concepts of gardening to math, science, reading, arts.
I can’t imagine doing anything else, but serving. I mean with the life that I’ve had and just the amount of need that’s within poor, black communities - it’s not something that’s outside of me - it’s my family." -- Nekia W., #LivesofWomen
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Lives of Women
Follow for more stories:
Facebook: facebook.com/livesofwomen
Instagram: instagram.com/livesofwomen
Twitter: twitter.com/liveswomen
YouTube: youtube.com/livesofwomen
Copyright 2017 Indigenous Media
indigenousmedia.com
"I was born in the middle of the drug war. When crack came into our community, it was like a bomb went off.
My mom went into prison when I was 5. I was in an abusive home situation with my dad. I was the oldest and I had an 8-year-old sister and 1.5-year-old brother.
After many years of living in constant fear, I was like, ‘we gotta go.’ That was the scariest thing I think I’ve ever done. I ended up staying with four different foster families. I stayed in the system ‘til I was 21.
I decided to do a masters in special education, and it became clear to me that the students didn’t have disabilities. Their environment was ‘disabling.’ I ended up helping develop programs connecting concepts of gardening to math, science, reading, arts.
I can’t imagine doing anything else, but serving. I mean with the life that I’ve had and just the amount of need that’s within poor, black communities - it’s not something that’s outside of me - it’s my family." -- Nekia W., #LivesofWomen
Want more stories? SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/LOWsubs
......
Lives of Women
Follow for more stories:
Facebook: facebook.com/livesofwomen
Instagram: instagram.com/livesofwomen
Twitter: twitter.com/liveswomen
YouTube: youtube.com/livesofwomen
Copyright 2017 Indigenous Media
indigenousmedia.com
