Anyone who has ever been around me or followed me on social media has probably heard me speak about the women in my life. My Beloved, my sister, and my daughter have all been mentioned at one point or another. They are the individual planets that rotate in my solar system. But there’s one woman who is the sun in that same solar system. The one who I will move heaven and earth to make proud. The other planets in my solar system revere her as much as I do, which is why they all understand without hesitation when she needs me for anything, it’s going to get handled. That woman, that sun, is my mother.
While my grandfather may have launched the storm that you know as Shakir Rashaan many moons ago, my mother was the one who set the foundation for that launching pad. All the books we read when I was younger, the short stories I wrote when for my high school English classes; she was there for all of that. Not only for me, but for my sister, Rae Lamar, as well. How many mothers can say they have two published authors as their children?
To this day, “Dear Mama” by Tupac Shakur sounds off, letting me know it’s her calling without having to pick up the phone. She has been, and continues to be, the brightest star in my cosmos. Since she has the propensity to kill me and the other women in my life for buying her any flowers or such for the holiday that celebrates moms everywhere (even though we do it anyway, LOL), I will consider this article my one Mother’s Day gift that she can appreciate this year, and for many years to come.
I love you, Mom. In the immortal words of Tupac Shakur, “There’s no way I can pay you back, but my plan is to show you that I understand. You are appreciated.”