LIVE TO GROW: BREAKING CYCLES
By Tiara (Lady TCB) Nolen
As descendants of kings and queens, we as African Americans have unique stories to share from lives that have been often bound by unrealistic expectations. Is who we are defined by who we want to be, or by others? This is one of many soul-searching questions and subjects discussed in Tiara Nolen’s Live to Grow: Breaking Cycles.
Through a blend of personal reflections and poetry, Nolen takes us on her journey through different cycles in life: 1) childhood experiences 2) self-image and society standards and 3) success, racism, and workplace issues.
When it comes to childhood experiences, she illustrates the ways expectations affect us, be they handed down from our parents and others, the pitfalls of judging people by the way they grew up, and how our upbringing shapes our view of the world, reminding us that our parents had been influenced by molds they didn’t fit into longer than we have.
With self-image and society standards, she discusses the culture shock of experiencing life in Minnesota after growing up in southside Chicago, body image, toxic masculinity, and the pressure to conform to a standard and culture not our own.
Success, racism, and workplace issues bring forth stereotypical perceptions, what it takes to become and stay authentically ourselves, and to check those perceptions and beliefs. As it is often said, “Control the narrative and you control the perception.” Coupled with this is the importance of strong and positive mentors and paying it forward, and Nolen speaks of her mentors with love.
Finally, in her “Love Letters to Myself,” Nolen speaks with clarity on the process of discovering who we are and what we believe vs. cycles and beliefs formulated by someone else. Loving and giving the beautiful person within us room to grow is everything.
Nolen’s poems are moving, and her reflections on point. It takes inner strength to break cycles and habits that do not serve us, and we are all on different points in that journey. We are those imperfect works in progress, continually learning and growing in this our life.
Live to Grow: Breaking Cycles is available through Amazon and the Minnesota Black Authors Expo website, www.mnblackauthorsexpo.com
Thank you, Lady TCB, for your insightful poetry and the life lessons you bring to the table. Representation matters!
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham is a native son of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in psychology from Luther College, and he was an original member of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning ensemble, Sounds of Blackness. He has also been recognized by the International Society of Poets as one of its “Best New Poets of 2003,” is a guest writer for journalist/author/entertainer Wyatt O’Brian Evans.
