All inventions or discoveries have been born out of necessity, need. My memoir Daughter of a Thousand Stars is no exception. After surviving violence and the blood diamond war in my country of birth, Sierra Leone, and making my way to America, hoping to realize my own American dream, I was shocked to discover similarities between the life I had run away from in Africa to the one I discovered in America. Coming face to face with the reality that we may not be as different as we might imagine, the need to share my story was born. With suicide rates the highest it has been in 50 years, with the country now rife with chaos and confusion, with more and more people feeling lonely and marginalized, Daughter of A Thousand Stars, which offers hope in the face of such great despair and darkness, is a book of the times. 

I care because I have felt lonely and afraid. I care because I am a woman who has faced tremendous hardship. I care because I am an African immigrant who has often relied on the kindness of strangers and people from other races and cultures to survive my life. I care because I know the healing power of stories and want nothing more than to share with others who have been brought to their knees by the circumstances of their lives to know that they too have it in them to survive theirs and find their place in this awe-inspiring place called the human family.  It is for the urgent need to continue the essential work of preventing child abuse that I have founded Flowers from Fire.

I have been fortunate enough to be recognized for the work I do on multiple platforms. Please find below my podcast interview with Dallas Professional Women’s Association when I was awarded their Woman of the Week.