I Don’t Believe in Privilege

I remember a time as a kid when my dad had whipped me across the back so hard, and so many times, that my mom cried when she was helping me get dressed. She asked me happened, and I lied. I said I had fallen down the stairs at school the day before. I could tell she did not believe me.

My mom, a warrior, eventually escaped from him. She piled my five siblings, and everything she could fit into our astro van. We went to a shelter in Philadephia, then my Grandmom’s house in Lancaster, a stint at my Aunt’s house in Florida, back to my Grandmom’s, then to my Uncle’s house in California. I wish I could say we were couch surfers, but we typically all slept on the floor in one room. Money was obviously a constant struggle.

Still, I don’t believe in privilege. If privilege is real, I would have to assume that despite everything, I had all of it. If there is privilege, it’s having the wisdom to realize that your situation and circumstances do not define you. Privilege is the ability to control your thoughts about your cirumstances and leveraging them for your success. Stop focusing on what you had, and who you were, and are, and focus on what you can have, and who you can be.