I was born carrying battles I never asked for,

shadows stitched to my skin,

scars I couldn't explain because silence was safer than truth.

I learned early..

love could cut as deep as it healed,

that sometimes "family" means blood,

but not always safety.

I swallowed words like stones,

choked on my own voice,

let the world tell me who I was

and who I'd never be.

But still, somehow,

I painted.

On canvases, on walls, on anything I could touch..

I poured my pain into color

because paint never judged me,

paint never left me,

paint never told me I was too much or not enough.

And when love betrayed me..

when lies wrapped themselves in sweet words,

when hands that promised to hold me

left me shattered on the floor..

I still got up.

I stitch myself together with brush strokes,

turned my heartbreak into color,

my grief into graffiti,

my chaos into creation.

Do you hear me?

I turned ashes into anthem,

I turned tears into testimony,

I turned every "You'll never"

into canvases that screamed..

"I already did."

To the ones who are broken,

To the ones who are bruised,

To the ones who are told their story is too messy to be sung,

I am proof.

Proof that scars can shine,

Proof that pain can preach,

Proof that God can use even the shattered

to light the stage with fire.

So when you see me..

don't just see the art,

don't just see the heart,

don't just see the smile I've practiced a thousand times.

See the girl who survived.

See the woman who fought back.

See the soul who refused to stay silent.

This is not just my story.

This is every heart that's ever been torn open.

This is every voice that was told to shut up.

This is every dream buried and dug back up again.

And tonight..

I don't stand here for applause.

I stand here for freedom.

For healing.

For the millions still carrying chains.

Because if I can rise from the ashes..

so can you.