To my parents, Langston Hughes, and my neighborhood family, who showed me how beautiful I was; who reminded me what a great gift my neighborhood was to the planet, who taught me that the way I spoke was music to the ears and that it was okay to simply be me—a little black girl from the inner city of Philadelphia.

To all who read and find my words, I give you the light that they all lit up in me.

GO FORTH AND SHINE.