The 10-year challenge has been the source of some of my joy over the last week. I have seen some pictures and said: “yep, black don’t crack.” I have found myself saying: “awww” as I look at some pictures and realise that some people were still in school 10 years ago. I thought about putting mine on social media and then I decided not to. Why? I didn’t really have a reason. I mean, the pictures on Facebook may not be me at my best, but they could be a lot worse, I guess. 

I realised I didn’t want to take part in the challenge because it represented a pivotal turning point in my life. I went from not liking who I was when I turned 19, to starting to feel extremely comfortable in both my blackness and womanhood. Doing those years of being 18-19 while in university, feels like a lifetime ago. Looking at a 19-year-old Tobi is wild. The thoughts I had, the things that were in important to me, opinions I thought mattered… well, I would be without a doubt cancelled if I had those thoughts today. I would be dragged back and forth through the streets of Black Twitter and in some respects deservedly so.