If you plan on watching the first season of Lovecraft Country or haven’t finished it yet, this is a warning. Avoid the introduction to this blog post because it might spoil a story for you, if you care. There’s the warning. I want to frame the reason that I chose and continue to choose Beloved after nearly a year around the story of Hippolyta in episode 7.

In 10th grade, during Premilitary Instruction (a mandatory class in Venezuela), we had to memorize our constitution, focusing on our rights and duties as people living in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It read like a fairytale.

Unfortunately, I found out later, as we all eventually do, that I wasn’t told the whole truth about racism-which isn’t fair. I found out people misuse and decontextualize Dr. King’s speeches to silence people like me (young people, Black people, women, and others at the margin fighting for change) and discourage our involvement in civics.

I was drawn to Beloved and I remain at Beloved because I believe that this organization is a manifestation of Baldwin’s sentiment: “The place that I fit will not exist until I make it.”

So, how did I, Dr. Nicole Caridad Ralston, get to Beloved Community? Let me start from the beginning, because in many ways I believe that who I am, my background and identities, have led me to join paths with Beloved Community in New Orleans.

Often when people think of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) they think of a set of mindsets and beliefs. Concepts that live exclusively in the heart and are segregated from the practices and systems that orient our lives. And while it’s easy to understand how these concepts can seem intangible, we must not let ourselves be deceived. Diversity, equity and inclusion is found in the policies, decisions and structures that manifest very tangible outcomes in our lives.

When people ask me how we chose our name or what it means, I describe it in deliberate, painstaking language.