We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Micki Berthelot Morency a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Micki, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Ironically, my confidence came from the many identities I was labeled with when my family emigrated from Haiti to the United States in the seventies. Identities that came with stereotypical expectations to keep me where they thought I belonged. In Haiti, I was just a girl. Here I became:
• Black
• Haitian-African
• Immigrant
• ESOL Speaker
• Minority
• Marginalized
• Naturalized US Citizen
• Haitian-American
I had to learn how to be each one of these identities in different spaces and not make mistakes. That was confusing while I was trying to assimilate into such a foreign culture. When I couldn’t speak English, I lived in oblivion. I was called names I didn’t know their meaning, so I smiled and kept going.
As an immigrant, I came here with my head full of dreams as if they were tangible items packed in a suitcase. I had left everything I knew, everything that defined me behind for the unknown.
What additional sacrifices was I willing to make to reach the American dream? Learning to speak English was like parting a curtain to peek behind it to see what awaited me on the other side. It was frightening when I saw the many obstacles I would have to overcome.
I was bullied in school because I spoke with an accent and my hairstyle, my clothes, my food were different. I stopped talking. Instead, I read, and I wrote. High school was a nightmare I had to endure.
But when I looked at the Haitian people in my Boston community, people like my parents who struggled to navigate the system with a very limited English vocabulary, I knew I had to stay in school. Higher education was going to be my ticket out of poverty and to gain my confidence and self-esteem by becoming self-sufficient.
I came from a family of strong Haitian women who knew their values, even as they unseemly fought the patriarchal system designed to keep women underfoot. They modeled resistance and confidence by quietly going to work, sending their children to school, nurturing them, having faith in their ability to provide for their family in the absence of a partner.
On days when I wanted to give up because the load was too heavy to bear, I tapped into my culture, my country’s history, my kinfolks ‘strength to stay on course. In my family, women did not quit.
My higher education gave me the confidence to go out and chart a path for my life that allowed me to become self-sufficient. With self-reliance comes self-esteem. No matter what happened in my life, I knew then that I had what it would take to overcome challenges, solve problems, and move forward.
Life is paved with bumps for everyone. Some are just harder to breach. We can’t wait for the field to be levelled to play. Sometimes we jump over barriers alone, sometimes someone is there to lend a hand.
I remember the struggle to learn English as my third language and today I have published a book in English. When the naysayers spoke, I didn’t listen. That’s what being confident means. I will never let anyone set limits for me. I can do anything.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I have been an advocate for women and children. I mentor young girls and women by using my life experiences to empower them to find their purpose. Currently, I’m working on my second novel. My previous publications that reflect my Haitian heritage can be found on my website at: www.mickimorency.com
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Perseverance and the belief that if I don’t try, I’ll never know if I really can. Whatever you want to do in life, go ahead and start. Align yourself with positive people. Banish the naysayers and haters.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
Instill in me the importance of an education, even though they didn’t have the opportunities that I had to explore that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mickimorency.com
- Instagram: @mickimorency3588
- Facebook: Micki Berthelot Morency
- Linkedin: Micki Berthelot Morency
- Twitter: @mickimorency
Image Credits
Marlene Catherine
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