28 days --- 56 ways to be Young, Gifted and Black: Nikole Brown

How do you spend your days?

I’m a grant writer for a hunger relief organization. I took this position for the experience, because really I spend my days dreaming and planning for the goals I have in mind. I love being able to contribute to the larger goal of feeding vulnerable communities, but dealing with the competitive money side can be disheartening. Otherwise, I’m spending time with my son, Greyson at our house in Bevo Mill with my roommate, Brewer, their daughter Addie, and our ridiculous dog Nora. For an introvert that spends so much time having to talk and negotiate budgets, it’s nice to have my own little corner of comfort.

What brings you joy?
Joy for me is getting to wear a onesie on an off day instead of pants. It’s watching my son see a joke he told land so well. It’s when I check off things on my to-do list and still have daylight left. Joy is feeding those who visit my house, seeing relief on a friend’s face when I can help them with something, and watching my community succeed as they do the damn thing. It’s watching all of the Bob’s Burgers/Gravity Falls episodes and saying fuck adulthood for a bit or finding a spare moment to read. Things guaranteed to make me smile: Mountain Dew, new cookbook, listening to Nina Simone records, visiting my hometown in Alabama, one-on-one friend time, and getting shit done.

What is liberation to you?
Liberation for me is community supporting community whether that’s spiritually, mentally or financially. It’s taking our mental health seriously, especially those of us who commit our lives to service work. Liberation is uplifting POC especially our QTPOC and youth. It’s creating spaces where we feel love. It’s making room for expression, which is sometimes angry, dark, and painful. Liberation is acknowledging that over motherhood and over being a woman, my blackness is the core of my identity and I don’t need to defend that.

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