How Africa News
34-year-old author, child welfare advocate, businesswoman, and community leader Amnoni Myers is well recognized for her best-selling book “You Are the Prize: Seeing Yourself Beyond the Imperfections of Your Trauma.”
Amnoni, who told The Black Wall Street Times about her harrowing upbringing, said, “I grew up in the foster care system, one of the systems overrepresented with Black and brown youth.”
Amnoni was given to her grandmother’s care when she was just six months old after being abandoned at the hospital shortly after birth. She was cared for by her grandmother until she was 10 years old, at which point she moved in with her mother, who had custody of her until she was 12 years old, at which point she was placed in the foster care system.
Amnoni recalls that she frequently encountered a lack of culturally affirming resources. She ended up in a situation where she was frequently informed that she would be a failure. Thoughtful remarks from her younger sister encouraged her experiences.
The 34-year-old woman revealed how the system failed her sister, who was trafficked out of the system, and described how she lost her sister. She continued by saying that, just before her sister passed away, she inspired Myers to see her enormous potential. “Sis, remember you are the prize,” was among her last words.
According to Amnoni, she wants to provide the system’s young people the chance to value themselves in a way that she was unable to do so when she was a youngster.
According to Dorchester Reporter, the author was able to graduate from Gordon College in 2014 and go on to receive a master’s in public administration from Baruch College.When she was 20 years old, she landed an internship in the White House and worked to improve the foster care system in the United States.
She told Fox 23 News “After finding my belongings waiting for me on the porch in black trash bags, I knew I had aged out of the foster care system with little direction and support.”
Later, she made her way to Capitol Hill in Washington, where she addressed Congressmen with a policy study on the significance of educating foster parents and caregivers on trauma-informed practices. As a result, she was given the chance of a lifetime to intern.
In collaboration with Builders+Backers, Amnoni organized the fashion exhibition “Threads of Change,” with the goal of supporting foster care and helping other children in the community. Black Queer Tulsa sponsored the event to organize it in observance of National Foster Care Month.
Amnoni also debuted the hard cover of her book at the “Threads of Change” show. The largest youth shelter in Oklahoma is situated at Youth Services of Tulsa, and all exhibition and associated event revenues will be given to their programs.
Amnoni stated her eagerness to attend the event and her hopes to participate in aromatherapy from Jamar Torres’ Live Aromatherapy Workshop, as she was not permitted to participate in sports or have sleepovers with friends while in foster care.
Through the event, she hopes to instill a spirit of self-awareness and understanding in the lives of homeless youth. She said, “I want them to see hope, I want them to experience light. I want them to experience themselves in the show. Through all the things they’ve experienced, to know that they are the prize. Don’t get so hung up on ‘I haven’t made it yet’, but know that healing is a life-long journey. It really takes time to heal from the wounds that can easily turn into scars.”
