LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER

My sisters,

I started writing my first book when I was about 11. It was probably only a few pages, but I remember so clearly that it was all about the ways that parents don’t understand (long before Fresh Prince – lol). Even at that young age, I knew I wanted to be a writer.

In high school, I was on the yearbook and newspaper staff, always journaling and always writing whenever and however I could. I religiously read Essence and wondered what it would be like to write an In the Spirit column like my shero, Susan Taylor. I loved everything about her energy and writing style, and I hoped one day I could be like her. So naturally, when I went to the University of Texas, I majored in journalism. It was the one major that looked interesting to me, and the thing that came most naturally.

But sometimes funny things happen when a dream is put to the test. For me, it came in the form of the modest $21,000 salary that I was offered from my first job out of school. And the test continued as I told my then-boyfriend that I wanted to move to New York to become an editor. I think he actually laughed and said something that made me question whether writing was a “real” job (as compared to his engineering focus).

So, I set out to prove something to him, the world, and I guess myself – as I applied to Howard’s law school. I told myself that it was the right thing to do because it would put my writing skills to work in a “useful” way. And with any luck, my starting salary would be more than $21,000. (lol)

Now don’t get me wrong . . . I’m so glad I went to law school because it, too, came natural to me, and Howard shaped my future in a way that I could never have imagined. But dreams – the ones that are really for you –have a way of not being denied. Which is why 10 years after graduating from law school, while working grueling hours at a demanding law firm, I found myself waking up at 5 AM to write. My dream literally would not let me sleep. In fact, it didn’t stop until I’d published not one, but three books (hopefully with more to come). And it didn’t stop until we created CONNECT, where I have the pleasure of writing my own In the Spirit in each issue. I don’t get to be Susan Taylor 2.0 - I get to be Imani, the first and last, which is fabulous.

My journey taught me that some dreams don’t manifest the first time around. Sometimes they have to be released, thrown away, buried, and resurrected. And we have to hope that when the time is right, we’ll get another chance.

In this issue, five yanasisters share their stories of dreams that took patience and perserverance, including dreams of motherhood (that took many years of prayer + 6 years of fostering), passion (with a return to modeling and acting 18 years after releasing it), living life more fully (with surviving domestic abuse and abandonment to later obtain a first and second degree, travel the world, and learn about self-love in her 60s), education (with a graduate degree that was 20 years in the making), and love (with a proposal from the guy she went out on a date with 26 years earlier). For anyone wondering if it’s too late, these stories will inspire you, encourage you, and remind you that as long as you have breath, there’s still time!

Never give up on your dreams.

Love and Light,