In a stirring address, K.C. Wilbourn Snapp, a turnaround specialist and advocate for marginalized communities, redefines the concept of superpowers through her personal journey of resilience and faith. Snapp, a Spelman College graduate and Ph.D. candidate, candidly shares her experiences of childhood trauma, single parenthood, and incarceration, framing these challenges as sources of strength rather than defeat. Her narrative intertwines personal struggles with broader societal issues facing Black women, touching on historical contributions and present-day inequities. As a motivational speaker and Chief Operations Officer for the Detroit Association of Black Organizations, Snapp’s work spans education, corrections, and non-profit sectors, embodying her belief that life’s journey and lessons are never finished. Her story serves as a powerful testament to perseverance and the transformative power of unwavering faith in the face of adversity.
This is her speech:
Good evening. My superpower is the thing that we don’t talk about. My superpower is the fact that before four, I’d been molested by many men, and it didn’t kill me. My superpower is growing up in a single-family home, only to repeat that. My superpower was being a teacher, underpaid and overworked. My superpower is being human and making some poor decisions that would cost me my freedom. My superpower is being able to stand and say I didn’t get discouraged when I had to check the box. My superpower is that even though I am a Spelman woman and a proud woman of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
My superpower still is I was a part of the group that was being serviced instead of the group that did the serving. My superpower is that I know we’ll always be in “us”. We’ve created this country. We’re the first to start this world. We fed their babies. We were lynched on behalf of our own. So, there’s no question about whether we’ll be an “us”. The question is, will we be honest about what kind of “us” that we’ll be?
They say that Philippians is the happiest book in the Bible, yet it was written inside of a prison. My superpower are all of the things that we don’t want to talk about within the negotiated roles of being Black and female. But my super flex is that God has not taken His hands off of me. Thank you.
