Nia DaCosta

Like, you're always, you know, you're always going to be Black in a way that's absolutely freeing.

You're like, oh, great, okay, well, if this is a matter to you, then I'm not going to do it either.

I'm not going to, like, get a weave right now.

I'll just keep my braids, you know?

It's really freeing.

And then, again, owning your authority, like, owning your space.

I mean, I learned that over years, but...

But yeah, I mean, I went to boarding school, I think I was 12 my first year and turned 13.

So I was really young and I really wanted to fit in.

And I really was still also grappling with what it meant to be Black.

Like, I remember my mom trying to talk to me about shopping while Black.

And I was like, Mom, what are you talking about?

I was like, what is that?

I just didn't want to hear it.

And she'd be like, you know, if I was reading Elle magazine, she'd also give me an essence.

She just wanted me to know, like,

She was trying to tell me, like, the world's going to tell you some lies about yourself, and I want you to not believe them.

And I, being young, I was, like, trying to figure out how to be a person, let alone, like, get all this extra information.

And she really, and I credit her so much for this, she really just, she just knew what it would be like.

And especially going away to school, like, which she really wanted me to do, too, because my mom is huge in education, and I really got that from her.