Kiara R. Jones, MPH: Most of the Motivating Factors

5 MPH 

It was a happy feeling- helping Daddy out in the garden. Pulling, planting greens and picking peaches and not-yet-ripe plums from our backyard trees. Daddy was feeding us and neighbors on his hands and knees.

I didn't realize how important it was to be able to help feed your family and others off the land at the age, in that barren neighborhood, with that income.

30 MPH

Our neighborhood didn't provide us with much of your basic needs: food & clothes (We had to travel at least 15 minutes by car out of town to the nearest grocery and clothing store.), k-8 education (If you're talking quality, we had to travel to the wealthier white neighborhoods for that.), safety (It used to be the murder capital of the US in the early 90's and a toxic chemical plant ROMIC leaked its chemicals into the soil and its explosion, on my b-day in 2006, released its toxins into our air. Many residents had a peculiar cough after that and asthma rates...well, you already know.) and jobs (But who has the luxury of a short commute any more? Sign of the times I guess). No invitation to a pity party here, just stating general facts you can Google.

50 MPH

Where do you go/what do you do if the place you call HOME or the land/neighborhood on/in which you live doesn't provide you with the basic necessities that lead decent quality of life? And I'm not just talking survival here. I began to feel a burning sensation in the depths of my stomach--I was anxious. I was ready to move with great speed because believed I could help in some way.

65 MPH

I wanted to runaway to attain knowledge that I could use in order to come back and affect change in my community around food justice issues faced by African-Americans mainly in low-income neighborhoods.

80 MPH

College exposed me to the Environmental Justice (EJ) Movement, Environmental Racism, redlining, the political ideologies behind all these disparities we face, etc. I heard the "Godfather of the EJ Movement" Robert Bullard speak of the many incidents of our government dumping trash in predominately black neighborhoods only. I heard Majora Carter, "renowned urban revitalization strategy consultant", stand up to profess, "You don't have to leave your neighborhood to live in a better one." I continued to work in my community over the summer around food justice issues. I read and applied the teachings in books like, "The Hood Health Handbook" volumes I and II and Tracye McQuirter's "By Any Greens Necessary" and more. At 80 MPH, I was just gearing up for what I wish to achieve now.

I choose to replace that number with my name and do the work put on my heart to do. I want it to read:

Kiara R. Jones, MPH.

"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." Nelson Mandela