Molly’s Mighty 8

Raiale Chatmon

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Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, right? Well, what about age?

My heroes are small and mighty and between the ages of 2 and 12, even though they are young they still hold great weight inside our community, which in this case is family.

My duty in mentorship started with my mighty 8, and in that process of expanding their knowledge and resources, I’ve been able to reclaim my own power in the role of leadership and found my niche in helping society by circling back to my creative endeavors. My goal is to reach the minds of the younger generations of artists and give them the wisdom they seek to create stability in their personal and social lives so they can find and be a part of a community where they can excel and achieve their goals. Over time, my nieces and nephews have become my students and teachers in life. My mother taught me that when you have kids your kids grow with you, and though I don’t have kids of my own, I believe in the saying, and I strongly believe that it takes a village to raise our future and an honest mentor and confidant to provide the information they seek on their journey in life. I knew this statement was true, but I didn’t know how liberating those words were until I observed their creativity.

“It takes a village,” they say, and being a part of a community leads to great success when led with proper guidance. I enrolled in school not too long ago for something I’ve always been passionate about since I was their age, which is writing and thoroughly expressing myself through different avenues in art, and since then I have not found the time to be alone in my endeavors, and for that, I am more than grateful. Their presence and childlike minds have allowed me to tap into my own childlike mind that’s been abandoned since becoming an adult. My nieces and nephews helped spark my creativity by observing their own in their writing, dancing, sketching, gaming, voice acting, and just living in their creative truths.

Aunt Molly is my superhero name for these wonderful beings, and their existence has restored my faith in myself and pushed me to be a part of a community where I can serve as a mentor for not only them but for other kids that inspire to be artists and not just artist, but inspire to involved in their environment and help create a better one by using their creative abilities. That is why they are my heroes, that is why I listen and respect them as if they are my own age. It’s an honor to be the aunt of 8 incredible kids with 8 different creative styles and personalities that each own. They remind me of myself when I was their age with their drive and enthusiasm.

It’s important to teach the younger generation the importance of believing in not only their dreams but in themselves. A huge percentage of individuals did not have the same luxury of gaining a mentor, coach, or counselor to help them along their journeys. When given the platform to help our future generation, we now can push and guide the kids in furthering their education and guiding them to fulfill their dreams that will lead them to be successful in achieving their goals and will eventually be put in a position to lead the community with their own vision and values to help expand and provide resources for upcoming generations.