What has kept you committed to the Ferguson protest movement?
My love for community and my passion for Black liberation have kept me committed to the Ferguson movement. The movement has been in the making for years. Racial injustice and prejudice has been brewing in the country, let alone this city, for centuries and now is the time to fight back against it.
What do you hope the legacy is for yourself and other protestors when the Ferguson movement is revisited by future generations?
 I want the history to also include the HERstory. I want it to be truth. I want it to be no iconic leaders, but instead a powerful community with group-centered leadership who made legacy while fighting for what is righteous.
How have you been changed by participating in the Ferguson protests and what has the movement taught you about yourself?
The movement has taught me to be open about love….loving those who do not value you or your loved one’s lives. Loving others enough to sacrifice everything you have to make a better world for those that come after me. This movement has taught me that I am powerful.
Has your role in the Ferguson protest movement led you in a new direction in your plans for the future and completion of your nursing degree?
I had planned on graduating with my BSN, then returning to grad school to pursue a doctoral degree in nursing. I’m still considering it, but that doctoral degree, whether PhD or DNP, has to put me in a position to where I am able to have the greatest impact in the community. My dream is to open a small holistic health facility in the city of St. Louis where people can come for minor treatments, mental health therapy, preventative healthcare, and more.
What is your most-traumatic memory so far during your time in Ferguson?
My most traumatizing memory is thinking I was going to die at the hands of the law enforcement while treating a citizen who had been tear gassed late one night. The police in military vehicles rolled up on a few others and me and shot rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at us while we were helping hurt citizens. Police presence is traumatizing for me. Period.
What is your most-satisfying memory?
The beauty, love, and resilience of community as others and myself returned night after night after night to counter the message that those in positions of power were trying to tell us. Their message: we are in charge, be quiet, go home, listen to us. Our message: WE are in charge, you cannot silence us, we are community, we are sick and tired of being sick and tired, we will not go, Black Lives Matter, WE MATTER.Â
