The Life of a Flatland Diva

I come from the flatlands of Oakland, California. It was different in the '70s when I was born. Prosperity was in the air. Good jobs were to be had with the port, the railways and the Naval base all in fluid operation. With a rich artist history the whole town seemed to get down to the groovy sounds of Marvin, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Commodores and the Jackson Five. From what I remember, it was mostly all love. I've carried that love with me through many rough and trying years.

There are many like me, battle torn by Reaganomics and the trickle down that never was. We love our roots yet fight against the margins.

The Flatland Diva is a woman of her people. She comes in many shades-- cocoa, caramel, vanilla (possibly swirl) and commits to being the eyes, ears and voice of her community. She has not run for the hills. Instead, she battles on the front lines, in the flatlands, the trenches; where cops, criminals and everyday people clash and collide. Her occupation varies. Her real job remains in her home and with the people that she loves. She is a mother or maybe just a fabulous aunt.

Don't get it twisted, this woman is sharp. Although not a follower, she is up on popular culture and the talk of the day. Her sense of style is all her own. Sometimes her money might be a little funny, which is to say she's broke from time to time, but you would never know it. She never speaks on what she doesn't have, only was she does have, which is the world on a string, have her tell it. Never braggadocious, always humble, she appears carefree in the midst of a burning world. Hair and nail, check. Makeup, check. Outfit, of course. On a good day she is fierce and ready for battle in the concrete jungle which tests her resolve daily.

This Flatland Diva's middle name is Nicole, which means "victory for the people." I go by Nicci (like "Nicki") for short. I've come to take the root meaning of this moniker to heart. I was raised in Oakland while the Black Panthers fed the children and kept the streets safe for the people before the party's demise. By  the time I turned 9 my family moved to an East Bay suburb where I received a top notch public school education and many lessons in diversity and tolerance.

My heart remained in Oakland with my people, people of struggle. The classrooms of the university served to confirm my world view of the people's right to love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and enlightened me to their overwhelming denial of these basic rights through out history. I decided my contribution would be to write a way out of this epic battle. I want to take readers to a place where love, beauty and humanity reigns superior to greed, xenophobia, ignorance and marginalization. Come with me...