The Truth We Told Ourselves

Our perception of what is realistic can often be impacted by our understanding of class, religion, gender, and race. If we allow them to, all these social constructs can tell us what we can and cannot do. This is why hindsight is so precious. In, The Truth We Told Ourselves, you will read about someone who was born into an upper class family but felt like they could never live up to the expectations of their family. You will read from Christians who are still struggling with understanding spirituality. You will read from women who wish they could have read about the Women's Suffrage movement and were introduced to the philosophy of Bell Hooks when they were in high school. You will read from black men who were convinced by what they saw that they were supposed to be thugs. You will read from people who look back at their fourteen year old selves and say, "I could have been a little more productive if...".In an attempt to empower those coming behind us to have a more productive impact on themselves, their communities and their families, and those that may follow a similar path as they once did, a compilation of letters was constructed entitled, The Truth We Told Ourselves. We all have a responsibility to humanity. We should create a path for those coming behind us so that they can get more out of life than we did; essentially leaving the world in a better place than we found it. We also should honor those who have come before us for they have blazed a path to make navigating through life a little easier. These letters are addressed to the younger counterparts of the authors. We discussed ways of effectuating change in order to prevent choices like the ones we made that were counterproductive to ourselves and others. No one knows you better than you know yourself. With this in mind, who better to help deter you, help correct you, than a wiser version of yourself? I hope that through these letters there are those of you who are able to find guidance if you are in, or have been in similar situations. The letters seek to change the detrimental course that the authors were influenced to travel in life. Maybe these letters will affect change in their lives, because we can ill afford to lose our youth..., and with them, ourselves again. The Truth We Told Ourselves is one of the initiatives of our organization, Kingdom Empowerment Inc. The mission of Kingdom Empowerment Inc is to reach beyond the status quo. We seek to interrogate the places our society attempt