Being the oldest of three, her mother had her at the age of 22 ( they thought her mother would never finish school because she had a child ), dark skinned ( being multi toned varying from light to dark ), acne prone, tall and intelligent.
Most of her family members never understood her from her birth and sometimes she tends to think that's the reason why she was mistreated for so long but as the naive season of her life passed and the blindfolds that were on her eyes fell off, she saw that it wasn't the fact that they didn't understand her but was rather that they felt threatened by her potential to break the status quo within the family. Her parents had already led the way with that. But were hated and envied for that. Unfortunately that hate was passed on to their offspring especially her.
She did nothing but love her family, but couldn't keep making excuses for their behaviour or attitude. They had already planned her life in their heads. 19, pregnant, back here at home with no job, just like her grandmother.
Now she had never met or heard much about her grandmother but their testimonies painted her to be a failure. She later came to find out why her grandmother acted. They treated her exactly as they treated her grandmother. But she wasn't strong enough to handle what was being done because she could have possibly felt like there was no way out of her misery .
Her grandmother turned to alcohol and partying, and boom... She was pregnant with her first child, a daughter and later on to have a son. Even with two amazing blessings from God, she continued her unhealthy lifestyle. Later on, she contracted HIV. In 2000 she died.
Now, her mother pregnant at 21 with a girl, the family thought well, well the generational curse is going on quite strong. Her daughter is going to be exactly the past two generations. Little did they know that Oantlha's mother's future was shining, they just couldn't see it.
Now, her mom's fate was bettered, she finished her degree, had two more kids, a husband and a beautiful home. She found a voice, she wanted a better for herself and also for her children. She broke one of the many generation curses within their family. She was the beginner of something majestic and by doing that, she subconsciously gave Oantlha a voice too.
A voice to dream, live, to achieve beyond her wildest dreams. She wanted her babies to live a life that was only seen on television or Instagram. She left something in them, not just for them. It just goes to show that the saying "When one woman rises, she gives other women her power to do the same."
Her family hated the fact that she succeeded. They had already labelled her as a failure but she never quit, she just took a break. Family can either motivate or degrade you, but you can choose how that impacts your life.
They try to limit you because they don't understand what you are becoming. We are powerful beings of a generation that invents, aspires, motivates and inspires to become more than before. As we grow, so do professions within the world but they just want to brag about something that they understand or what is popular like being a doctor or a lawyer. It's not how the world works anymore.
This new generation of black women is educated, wiser and knows what they want, we're not going for the bare minimum. We are coming for everything.
This is our time to shine.