Erykah Badu was the mentor who gave me depth.
She activated a curiosity in me I didn’t even know I carried. I was 18 years old and I heard ‘On & On’ on MTV for the first time, and I remember thinking, “Who is this woman? And how does she know all this?”
She wasn’t just singing lyrics. She was speaking in frequency. She was talking about concepts I had never heard before, but somehow, I recognized them. Not with my mind, with my spirit. I wanted to know more.
Who was this wise woman who overstood dimensions?
Who moved like she had lived many lives?
And I really believe she helped shape the woman I am today.
When my heart broke, it was Mama’s Gun, Green Eyes, My Eyes Are Green that held me through the healing. Not as comfort, but as initiation. I learned that dealing with my different emotions, triggers the magic within me.
Her music opened doors.
And then the research started.
Kemet.
Lineage.
Black power.
Ancestral memory.
I studied for eight years, not academically, but spiritually. It formed the Nubian queen, the Goddess, I chose to embody. The woman who knows where she comes from.
But Erykah didn’t just root me, she freed me.
She taught me that I can shift, evolve, shape-shift, reinvent and never owe the world an explanation. That I have the right to explore my many selves.
I remember when she wore her hair in locs, I felt permission to do the same. And when I grew beyond that phase, I felt free to transform again. No box. No definition. No fixed identity.
Erykah brought art, theater, spirituality, humor, rebellion, softness, and ceremony into one woman.
A pioneer.
A portal.
A blueprint.
She inspired the girls who would go on to inspire the world: Beyoncé, Solange, Zendaya, and many more.
And I remember when she chose to have three children by three different king, and instead of shame, she celebrated her freedom, her femininity, her sovereignty.
She showed us a Black woman can live by her own design.
And that is the liberation she gave me. Not just depth, but permission to be infinite.
Erykah Badu my mentor. You taught me to trust my depth. To honor my emotions. To walk as a whole woman.
You reminded me I have always been:
Ancient.
Intuitive.
Magnetic.
Emotional.
Black.
Sacred.
Whole.
I love you miss Badu, With all my love,
Mara
