WWW.OBIORAHFIELDS.COM | 404-994-6218 | MAY 2019
STANDING UP FOR OTHERS HOW MY MOTHER INFLUENCED ME
M other’s Day is on May 12 this year, and it’s an occasion for people all over the country to celebrate how their mothers have provided for them and influenced them in their lives. I take it as an opportunity to reflect on the things that I deeply admire in my mother and how she shaped me into who I am today. Faye Bess worked as a telephone operator for BellSouth for 30 years, and she never took any nonsense from anyone. She always stood up for her rights and the rights of her fellow workers. She was active in her union, and she was in a myriad of strikes that happened throughout her tenure there. I remember her taking me and my siblings to those union meetings and to the strikes as well. I guess that’s one way to model standing up for yourself and others to your kids! I’m incredibly grateful for the influence my mother had on me, even at an early age. I remember sitting at a parent-teacher conference with my mother when I was in fourth grade. Up until this point, I was not a stellar student; I think I had earned all Cs. My mother asked my teacher why I was making all Cs, and my teacher replied that I
would probably never be more than a C student. My mother, frustrated that someone would say that about her daughter, shot back that the teacher would “never be more than a C teacher.” That exchange, as funny as it is now, was the beginning of my dedication to doing better in school. After that, it really clicked that I could be a better student than I had been, and I started to live it.
I CAN DEFINITELY TRACE MY DESIRE TO STAND UP FOR OTHER PEOPLE BACK TO HOW I SAW MY MOTHER STAND UP FOR HER COWORKERS WHEN I WAS YOUNG.
when I was young. She lives a few states over in Louisiana now, but I try to visit her as often as I can. She’s an incredible cook, and I can’t get enough of her gumbo. Even if your mother didn’t take you to union strikes or defend you to your fourth-grade teacher, there’s a chance that your mother has influenced you in some way, shape, or form. This Mother’s Day, give your mother a call, or visit her if you can, and thank her for the ways she has helped you become who you are.
At Obiorah Fields, LLC, our areas of practice include federal employee rights, Georgia employee rights, and veteran benefits. I can definitely trace my desire to stand up for other people back to how I saw my mother stand up for her coworkers
–Danielle Obiorah
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