We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nikki T. Anthony . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nikki T. below.
Nikki T. , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I was raised on the south side of Chicago in the slums of a housing project. The product of an often verbally abusive young Black mother who could only give me what was given to her, and raised by an elderly great-grandmother who could only do the best she could with what she had. Despite my lack of guidance, I knew that I didn’t want poverty to be a life sentence for me. So, I turned to the place that turned out to be a hub for knowledge—that place was the Chicago Public Library. It was there that I familiarized myself with learning how to operate a computer, the importance of being an avid reader, and even teaching myself how to write books on my own. At an early age I had decided that if I didn’t have anyone to teach me what I needed to know, that I’d educate myself. I understood early on that if I wanted something different then I needed to do something different.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m an award-winning author who’s love for writing sparked as a teenager. Growing up in poverty, I became an avid reader to escape my reality by visiting the neighborhood public library which allowed me to explore different environments through reading fiction.
As an avid reader that used literature as leverage in my own life, My sole mission is to do my small part as a change agent by utilizing storytelling as an outlet for the new generation of young adults, through my debut YA novel The Price We Pay.
Although I’m known as Nikki T. Anthony, the award-winning multi-faceted writer, and even serial entrepreneur, I wasn’t always Nikki T. Anthony—I had to become her. Through my own resilience of overcoming childhood challenges, I was able to transform my personal experiences of being an underserved runaway troubled teen into being a motivator for the marginalized. My failures in my earlier years allowed me to both lead and teach from my own life experiences.
Visiting the public library daily to escape my impoverished environment, running away from home at the age of 15, dropping out of high school, fostering a toxic relationship with my parents, and allowing pain to project my feelings were all happenings that I used to my advantage. Being a vessel of my own disadvantages, my enthralling life experiences, and persuasive stories demonstrate to teen girls that overcoming challenges can be transformed into a skillset, in opposed to being seen as obstacles.
Through the lens of my bad choices and unapologetic authenticity, I’ve learned to celebrate myself by weaving in the tapestry of resilience, growth, and strength; I’ve learned to celebrate my highs and lows by giving myself grace and it’s my mission to encourage other young girls to do the same. It doesn’t matter what they’ve done, all that matters is what they do to turn things around.
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?
Looking back, I would say that resilience, growth, and strength were skills that impacted my journey to be better. It takes a great deal of strength to make a conscious decision to grow. To hold yourself accountable for the choices you’ve decided to make. For anyone who’s on a journey to becoming better, I want to encourage you to first find the strength to forgive yourself, then do the work necessary to be better. Delayed doesn’t mean you’ve been denied. But if you remain resilient and consistent you’ll be well on your way to paving a new road.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
The youth inspires me a great deal. Especially young adult females, because they are the backbone, brains, and beauty of society. I want to be the woman to them that I needed as a young girl. What better way to do this then to connect directly with the people who are in leadership positions—the educators.
I’d love to collaborate with every educator who has ever stepped in front of a classroom and wondered, “Does my work matter?” The short answer is “Yes it does!”
Teaching is a leadership position. Society may forget this, and the pay educators receive may not always reflect this, but it is true. The lessons a teacher gives today won’t just impact this generation. They will impact every generation to come afterward. Not every lesson passed on in a classroom comes out of a textbook. The most important lessons often come from the relationships a teacher forms with his or her students. The impact of those relationships, good or bad, influences the way that future generations think about and discuss education.
My debut award-winning book, The Price We Pay, is told from the perspective of a Black teenage girl whose experiences with her teachers and principal are not positive in large part due to racial prejudices. We’re using the novel as the foundational guide to help both educators and students understand bias, how it impacts the classroom, and how to formulate plans to counteract bias where necessary, while being and feeling seen.
I want to encourage educators to use this book as an opportunity to open the doors to honest conversation with their students about how they feel when bias presents itself. The first challenge we have is to identify those biases and determine whether they are helpful or harmful. The second challenge, once we’ve identified the harmful biases, is to create concrete plans of action that allow us to overcome them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.iamnikkitanthony.com
- Instagram: Nikki T. Anthony
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- Twitter: Nikki T. Anthony
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