I didn’t really want a birthday party, not while my mom is still in the hospital. It felt wrong to be here without her. I was there this morning and in the middle of reading a poem about the strength and resilience of Black voices called “This Is Not a Small Voice,” by Sonia Sanchez, when it hit me: My mom has been in a coma for six weeks now. There is no sign of her getting better. Is she really never going to wake up? That’s when I broke down sobbing.

I thought of skipping the party given for me by See Us, but I stayed and mingled, because I knew she’d want me to. Also, everyone had worked so hard to get folks to come to the rally, they deserved to blow off some steam.

The rally went better than any of us expected. I’m elated at the results of that night. Three out of the seven companies we called out have since pulled their ad money from the Sly network. And the others are now reviewing their partnership with them.

In the few days since the march, membership has rocketed up, and there are talks of expanding office space sometime next year, to accommodate the boom in membership.

I don’t think of this party as being my party, because everything that happened that night was a result of everyone working together. I think of it less as my birthday party and more like a celebration of unity. I tried to explain that to the adults in the room, but they insisted that the party focus on me.

So, here we are at See Us headquarters, in the middle of a large birthday bash, complete with a four-layer cake, fabulous gold and pink decor, and a table full of gifts. The music is banging and everyone seems to be having a good time.

I started my birthday at my mom’s bedside. There’s no real change in her condition, but I promised myself that I would try to enjoy tonight because everyone worked so hard to put it together.

I’ve been trying to talk to Nai, but every time I head toward her, someone wants a picture with me or wants to discuss See Us. I take as many pics as they need in order to write us a check. I play twenty questions and smile even if I don’t feel like it. I don’t mind, because I know it’s a good cause.

Finally, I get a free moment, so I take Nai and usher her out to one of the small offices so we can talk. “Hey, are you okay?” she asks as I close the door behind us.

“Yeah, I’m good.” I signal for her to take a seat. “I saw you and Dell. You guys look so cute, it’s ridiculous.”

She laughs. “Yeah, we do got it go’n on.”