Press Pass with Paige- Behind the Scenes of #YNGBLKPGH.

Press Pass with Paige- Behind the Scenes of #YNGBLKPGH.

I am still in shock from Saturday’s recent ‘YOUNG BLACK PITTSBURGH’ official book release. Nor can I believe that someone thought enough of me to include me in such a brilliant amazing project.

I know its cheesy to say that I see my dreams coming true or that hard work and having faith pays off… but it’s true. I’m just a little girl from Pittsburgh who had no desire to go to college, received poor SAT test scores, and got mediocre grades in grade school. I have the total opposite story from your typical perfect student. I struggled! And I discovered my love for writing in the struggle. Writing was literally the only thing I felt I was good at. Math, science, or history… man you can forget it! I often feel like math is a foreign language [smh]. Which is why I had no desire to pursue secondary education.

All of this sometimes comes off as a dream. I went to school and finished. Published a couple books, working in my field, and now have the opportunity to tell my story. It is such a blessing and I just hope that this book blesses the lives of others.

I write for a living but when it came to this book, it took me weeks to figure out what I wanted to say. Then on top of that, when I first sent my entry back to author of ‘YOUNG BLACK PITTSBURGH’ Brian Burley it was in Word Document. I had no idea that he wanted it to be hand written, so I had to re-do it. Then once I had re-did it Mr. Burley told me I had to do it over again because when I hand wrote it and was practically three pages long.

So I had to condense all of that information into ONE page. I had to write my letter multiple times [Lol] And then I missed the photo shoot date and had to reschedule. Photographer, Keisha Silver took my photos and held the photo shoot at my mother’s house. You wouldn’t even know right? [Lol] I gave Mr. Burley a run for his money but yet he was so patient with me.

It is such an honor to be amongst such greatness in Pittsburgh. I’m still speechless. BUY THE BOOK!