So, one week down in New York and I’m loving it! The food is great, the nightlife is exciting, and I’m enjoying getting to know my fellow Moxies. In the midst of all this excitement I have to somehow compose a thoughtful blog post that ties my recent experiences to a feminist framework, so this week I guess I’ll talk about privilege. I’m a first-generation African-American female, I attend Duke University, have access to an education, knowledge, healthcare, and this summer I’m living free of charge in the Lower West Side; I’m going to D.C. with the non-profit that I’m an intern at, and I even get to meet the rapper Eve tomorrow, I mean does it get better than this!?

Well, I didn’t outline my life just to brag about how great my life is, I outlined my life to remind myself of how privileged I am. I’m so lucky, and in being so lucky and privileged, I tend to get wrapped up in my own life and fail to see the bigger picture- that life is so much more than just me and my problems.

This week I committed my first offense in the Moxie program when I failed to hand in my personal reflection to my site coordinator on time. Instead of emailing the reflection, I decided to chat up some friends over a cup of frozen yogurt. I went back to my room, fell asleep, and that was it. The fact that I could take this reflection so lightly shows that I am already taking my experience for granted, and the fact that I could and was taking this experience for granted shows that I am privileged and maybe even a teeny bit spoiled. The truth is that 50-60 years earlier, a 1st generation African American female could not do what I am doing now. It took the hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance of activists and leaders to give me the privileges I enjoy today. So, while it is totally understandable for an unaccompanied 20 year old to get caught up in the excitement of city life, I challenge myself to develop my identity as a leader, a risk-taker, and as an activist.

Men and women fought for racial and gender equality in earlier generations where it was (in many cases) fatally dangerous to do so, despite this, they continued to fight for societal change. I am extremely thankful that it’s much much easier for me to partake in social activism. I am extremely thankful that I can be a young college student and enjoy myself in the city; but it is not enough to simply reap the benefits of movements of the past, I have to give back so others can enjoy as well.