We Are Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dream

I attended a book signing yesterday as a guest.

And that matters. Because people are used to seeing me walk into rooms as the photographer.

Camera ready. On assignment. Capturing the moment.

But yesterday?

I was simply there to experience it.

The book:

The Modern Proverbs 31 Women. 31 women. All African American.

I don’t know if that was intentional…but baby, it felt aligned.

Now, while I have photographed some of the women featured in the book—

Yesterday wasn’t about my lens. It was about theirs.

Their stories. Their journeys. Their presence.

I simply had a fingerprint on the work.

And let me be honest— I expected greatness.

I absolutely expected to be wowed.

(That ticket was $150… my expectations were HIGH 😅)

The room already felt full before the program even started.

Full of beauty. Full of presence. Full of stories that didn’t need permission to exist anymore.

And somewhere between the speakers—

because I may be blending a few voices together 😅—

this statement was said:

“They didn’t want us to read or write… and here we are publishing.

We are our ancestors’ wildest dream.”

And I lost it… Internally.

Because on the outside, I was composed.

But on the inside? Whew.

Because in that moment, it wasn’t just about a book.

It was about access. It was about audacity.

It was about the fact that there was a time when someone who looked like us

could have been punished for doing the very thing we were there being celebrated for.

Reading.

Writing.

Publishing.

Creating.

Existing out loud.

And here’s the part that really sat me down—

This is the work I do.

I photograph women. I help tell their stories. I create spaces where they can be seen, affirmed, documented.

And I’ve always approached it from a place of impact. That’s never been light work to me.

But yesterday? It introduced a different angle.

Not just impact. Inheritance.

Because I’ve been focused on what this work does for the women in front of my camera…

But I hadn’t fully sat with what it means in the context of the women who came before us.

And that perspective? It hit.

Because now it’s not just:

“This matters because it changes lives.”

It’s also: “This matters because we’re even allowed to do it.”

Same work. Different weight.

That shift doesn’t take away from what I’ve already built. It deepens it.

Those 31 women?

They weren’t just featured. They were documented. Preserved. Positioned.

Their beauty, their stories, their presence— Captured in a way that says:

“We were here. And we mattered.”

And as a photographer…that part hit me different.

Because my job isn’t just to take pictures.

It’s to witness. To affirm. To archive existence in a way that outlives the moment.

Yesterday reminded me…

I’m not just creating content.

I’m contributing to history.

And maybe that’s the shift we all need.

Not pressure… but perspective.

Because you don’t have to be in a book to be part of the dream.

You just have to stop shrinking inside of it.

So if you’ve been sitting on something— a story, a business, an idea, a voice—

Let this be your reminder:

You are already standing in answered prayers.

Now move like it.

And to every woman in that book—

Thank you for allowing your stories to be seen, held, and honored.

And to every voice that poured into that room—

Even if I blended a few of y’all together 😅

That message?

It landed.

-Hey Lindria