I am a true believer that the many identities I hold within my single existence are pivotal in contributing to the perspective in which I view the world, and do my work.

As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shared in one of her famous TED Talks on the Danger of a Single Story, we are all many things.

Here’s a glimpse into the many things that have led to shaping me.

We are all many things

I was born and raised in the Bay Area of California, and also grew up in the California Central Valley, Nevada and in Atlanta, Georgia. I went to college in Alabama, and I currently reside just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

A young girl wearing a pink baseball cap, a red sports jersey, and black leggings, standing on a wooden deck next to a white bicycle with pink handlebar grips.
Sienna and son Mekhi in front of Golden Gate Bridge
Two men and a young boy standing outdoors on a sunny day, with trees and a small red building in the background.
Four women sitting together at a restaurant table, smiling for the camera. The table has drinks, chips, and salsa, with a lively restaurant interior in the background.

Growing up, I had a unique childhood where I was exposed to vast diversity in cultures, religions, ethnicities and gender expression. I was raised by a Muslim father and Catholic mother. We attended the liberation theology church of my childhood best friend’s father every Sunday, where we learned Swahili and African rites of passage, and Jesus was a social activist at heart.

A group of five people, including three children and two women, standing outdoors in front of a wooden fence and trees with fall foliage, smiling and enjoying the moment.
Young boy in athletic clothing standing on a blanket at the beach, eating a snack while a woman and other children sit nearby.
young Sienna

My father integrated his elementary school and taught me very early on how to face and channel my anger from witnessing injustice into meaningful action. My mother, an only child raised by a strong single mother, introduced me to bell hooks at 13 and taught me how to take up space for myself, to always be myself.

A man dressed in military uniform standing outdoors, holding a cup, with trees and a building in the background.
A woman with a short, styled hairstyle, wearing a dark off-shoulder dress, pearl earrings, and a pearl necklace with a teardrop pendant, smiling against a softly blurred background.
A woman with braided hair, earrings, and a black shirt, is embracing an older man with a gray beard, wearing a black shirt, in a warm hug, both smiling in a cozy indoor setting.
A married couple in wedding attire smiling and hugging in a church or chapel.

I’ve always been an insatiable autodidact and started reading at the age of three. During the peak 90’s as a young, “gifted and talented” Black girl with some distinct processing differences, I struggled to find my identity in mostly white spaces I just never seemed to fit in to. I poured myself into school, read every edition of Encyclopedia Britannica of my parents obliged to, and became the librarian’s lunch buddy.

A young girl with dark curly hair, wearing a blue and black striped sweater, blue pants, and white shoes, standing next to a brown velvet armchair with an orange cushion, in a room with beige carpet and vertical blinds.
A handwritten letter dated 12/22/96 addressed to Nana, apologizing for delay in sending a picture and asking about Nana's recovery, grandpop Clarence, and Prop. 209.
Three children smiling on a dock by a lake with a forested hill in the background.

At a young age, I devoured politically provocative books, and loved summers on the east coast with my Great Aunt Bernyce and Uncle Arthur in Washington D.C. where I got the living history stories to accompany whatever latest political story I was into at the moment. Model United Nations in high school crystallized my longtime interest in politics, and attending Alabama A&M University, a historically Black college/university, was one of the most impactful chapters of my life in terms of shaping my identity.

A woman with glasses, wearing a patterned dress, standing outdoors near a hedge or bush with dark leaves.
Group of four women smiling and posing for a photo outdoors, one wearing sunglasses, some in matching maroon shirts, with a crowd and trees in the background.
A group of women and children standing outdoors near a wooden railing, smiling and posing for a photograph during the evening, with trees and houses in the background.
A woman and a man standing in front of an American flag. The woman is smiling and the man is looking down.

When my family moved to the midwestern United States, I was introduced to a brand new side of America I hadn’t met yet. I learned about the segregation and inequities that reached beyond the Jim Crow south, and the redlining and socioeconomic oppression that would have a lasting effect on marginalized communities into the new millennium. The activist spirit I was born with reignited, and I dove into community social work through organizations like Milwaukee Urban League Young Professionals, Ex Fabula and Tosa Together. There was, and still is, work to be done in the place I now call home.

A woman wearing sunglasses and a colorful headwrap holding a sign that says 'Black Lives Matter' at a protest or rally, with other protesters in the background holding signs and raising fists, under green trees and blue sky.

In 2024, I made the big decision to leave corporate work all together, and take time off to recover from severe autistic burnout. I reconnected with the practice of yoga as a tool for healing, and fell in love with something I had loosely practiced for over two decades.

As of October 2026, I am a 200-hour Registered Certified Yoga Teacher, with a focus on somatic abolitionism. I am deeply interested in how we recognize that our bodies are places where systemic harm is held, and that yoga is a tool for healing that harm. My yoga students can expect a space for embodied movement with compassion, patience and honesty.

A woman doing a yoga pose on a wooden floor against a yellow wall, with string lights along the baseboard and an electrical outlet. She wears glasses, a black top, black leggings, and a striped shirt, and is smiling with her arms raised.

The layers of my social identities and lived experiences shape the perspectives in which I view the world. I’m a Black, cisgender woman. A mother and bonus mom to 3 beautiful, Black young men. I am neurodivergent, living on the autism spectrum with ADHD. I’m a native English speaker who has had access to formal education. I have white, opposite-sex spouse, who is a veteran and has served in law enforcement.

A couple is dancing outdoors near red rocks, with the woman wearing a white lace dress and a hair accessory, and the man wearing a suit, both smiling and looking at each other.
A group of children lying on a patterned rug, smiling and looking at the camera.
A woman with dark hair smiling while holding a young child with dark skin, sitting on a brown couch in a living room with wooden blinds.

My varied identities give me both close proximity to social privilege, and push me away from it. These are all aspects of my identity that are important to know because they add perspective to the lenses in which society views me, and how I interact with my lived experiences.

I have a deep, deep sense of connective empathy to the human experience that we all share.

A woman and a small girl standing outside a brick house, smiling and enjoying a sunny day.
A woman and a young girl smiling and posing for a picture in a kitchen. The woman is wearing glasses and a patterned dress, and the girl has curly hair and is wearing a light-colored dress.
An older man sitting in a chair, smoking a cigarette, wearing a yellow shirt and beige suspenders.

I believe it comes from the seeds that were planted in me from my own live experiences, the personal and social identities I inherited, and my ancestors who have come before me and blessed me with the lessons of their paths lived.

Thank you for seeing me.

A person smiling and holding a fish they caught, wearing a blue bucket hat with the words 'YOU ARE ON NATIVE LAND', glasses, gray long sleeve shirt, and tan fishing vest, standing in a shallow stream or river with a forested background.
Two women are cooking in a kitchen, slicing meat on cutting boards. One woman is wearing a red apron and the other is in a gray apron. The kitchen has pots hanging on the wall and various cooking utensils on the counter.
Six women standing together outdoors with a backdrop of palm trees, dressed in vintage dresses, smiling at the camera.
A young girl standing outdoors on grass, holding a stick and a bag, with trees and bushes in the background.

Things that light me up

aka - “my special interests” to my fellow autists 😉

  • Before I’m a woman, I’m a Black woman.

    Before I’m a mother, I’m a Black mother.

    Before I’m a wife, I’m a Black wife.

    I am, and will always be, interested and will prioritize the liberation and freedom of Black people in the diaspora across the globe.

  • I love to cook and I love to eat! Check out my instagram for more plate pics than selfies 🍽️

  • As a 90’s kid with echolalia raised on jock jams, I can recite almost every R&B Billboard Chart topper from the 90’s! And, I’m also a loyal member of the BeyHive 👑🐝