Today, on this day of February 6th 2025, I, Akunna, am coming out of the Black closet.
I’ve allowed these closeted walls to hold me back for many years on many levels, and today, I am taking a stand, kicking down the door, and exiting the jail cell which exists in my mind.
You see, in 1992, I was born in a predominately white city (Seattle, Washington), while my mom was attending a predominately white school (University of Washington). I was delivered by a white doctor, and the first thing I saw with my two eyes was a glaringly white light.
While I am not one to claim oppression, (why do we affirm things we do not want???), I will say the white walls of the room I was born into represent a constant reminder that has silently contained my authentic self in my 30+ years of life. Until this very day, I still find myself attempting to mask – censoring what I really want to say and locking feelings, past traumas, and more skeletons in my closet. Those feelings, I didn’t think were worthy of expression. Those traumas, I did not know how to heal or work through. Those skeletons, I simply did not know what to do with.
It’s the year 2025, (or so we say), and everything is being revealed. The truth is coming to light, so it is the perfect time for me to pull an 8 Mile and bare myself to the world or “read myself to filth,” as the youngns say. So here is the truth.
The truth is that I feel fear.
Fear of expression, fear of being seen, fear of not being good enough…
Fear of not being needed or wanted, fear of how others perceive me.
The truth is that I have been wearing a mask.
Wearing a mask to be more palatable in corporate settings, a mask to not seem “crazy”…
Wearing a mask to not seem desperate, a mask to not be negative.
The truth is that I have been quiet.
Been quiet when I don’t want to cause a disturbance, when every fiber of my being wants to ROAR…
Been quiet because I feel like no one can really hear me.
This year, this ends.
I used to want to be liked, and now I know that I am loved.
I used to want to be accepted, and now I know that alignment is more important.
I used to want to be authentic, and now I know that I have no choice but to be.
My name is Akunna and I choose to uplift, platform, and highlight brown people who have some brown sense. Call it “woke,” call it “conscious,” call it whatever you want to call it.
I call it alignment.
If you are still pushing out narratives that are destructive to my community, you are not aligned. If you are not working on bettering your health, you are not aligned. You don’t have to be perfect, as no one is. However, you have to be making an effort.
No, I am not rooting for everybody “Black.“
But everybody I root for, will likely be brown. That is my genre. That is my truth. And I will yell it from the highest of rooftops because after 30+ years of holding back, my soul calls for that level of audacity.
Today, on this day of February 6th 2025, I, Akunna, am coming out of the Black closet.
And I refuse to go back in there.