Dear Karla Jamaica

Dear Karla Jamaica,

This is a letter to thank and celebrate you. Over the last five years our friendship and collaboration have encouraged me in a way that you may not know. When I think of you the words that come to mind are strength and grace. It’s as if you carry the world with you, but let it flow through you in a way that includes you but does not weigh you down.

You are such a wonderful friend, dog mom, community activist, daughter, health advocate and neighbor. Your ability to lift up everyone around you without losing your own footing is something people much older than you have still not mastered. You do it with ease.

Your friendship is made up of equal parts fun and unabashed honesty. The way you always encourage me and tell me to know my worth has helped me grow as a person and entrepreneur. I can count on our silly chats but also on your willingness to provide your honest opinions. You see value in me and my million ideas even when I’m rambling. I love that we have had so many little adventures together; the days on New York City rooftops, afternoons in Naples Canal kayaking and evenings walking our pups together through downtown Long Beach. Those moments are mundane in comparison to large life events but they were just so much sweeter with your big laugh in attendance. I’m much more interested in making the small moments matter rather than wasting life waiting for big moments to happen.

Black Everywhere, which you founded, has had a huge impact on so many people of color. You have an ability to attract people into a community, then connect, teach, inspire and educate them on topics of which they may not have otherwise been exposed . The Black community has suffered for so many years for so many reasons and as you became an adult and began further understanding the true inequality you decided to make a difference. It’s easy to see and understand a problem, but as a young woman you decided, why not me. That is something special. Your bravery and ambition have helped so many people get closer to who they really are in an environment where they feel important and seen.

Two years ago, I watched as you left your home and traveled across the country to be with your mother as her cancer progressed. This, in my opinion, is one of the most emotionally taxing and hardest things to face. It’s difficult enough to lose someone you love, but to watch them go from caretaker to then needing your care is a transition that only the strongest people can handle. The act of spending time with your mom was not what made the sad process beautiful. What stuck out to me is that everything your mother was - highly educated, culturally adventurous, cheerful, joyful, creative and loyal - did not dim when she passed, but passed to you. It was like you took her legacy and intertwined it into yourself, magnifying her beauty. The food you prepare, dances you dance, colors you wear, books you read and friends you inspire are manifestations of how she lives on through you.

I think it’s hard for us as adults to really take a moment and breathe in what is around us. Before the pandemic life was so busy, so full of things that at the end of the day really didn't matter. Over the last year, many tasks and unnecessary rituals have melted away. It has personally given me the chance to really evaluate the energy I put into the world and the energy I get back. I’ve learned the two most important things to me are my home and the people with whom I share my life. I’m unconditionally grateful for having you as a neighbor, living right down the street. Now that we are farther apart I guess fondness makes the heart grow stronger. I see from a distance what a wonderful light you are, not just to me, but to all your friends, family and community. We are lucky to have you.

Just in case you weren’t aware… your beauty, bravery, calmness, kindness, intelligence, spirit and heart are appreciated and valued. Thank you for all you do. More importantly, thank you for who you are.

Your forever friend,

Megan Rose