Greetings Reader,

I'm typing this from near Atlanta, Georgia — but I'm preparing to head to Ghana soon, where my mother is now based. This trip carries a lot of weight. New chapter energy. Diaspora homecoming. Media correspondent work with Focus Black Oklahoma (NPR Affiliate).

Yes — I'm already thinking about what stories need to be told from that side of the ocean for my own YouTube and Documentary Series.

More on that soon. But let me know what you want to see.

Facebook memories reminded me that from March 2021 through 2024 I hosted 3 iteration of my See Life Different Summits. They were a series of virtual panels and talks I hosted that brought together storytellers, advocates, creatives, and leaders to talk about resilience, disability, identity, and seeing life through a different lens. They were part conversation, part healing space, and part community building, part visibility strengthening.

When I hosted those summits, I was building something I didn’t see anywhere else. I created rooms where disability wasn’t an afterthought, where Black women didn’t have to code switch, where Muslim identity didn’t need softening. Rooms where resilience wasn’t performative.

But here’s what I didn’t include in the marketing materials; not only was I filling in a conviction gap, I was building the room I needed. And I was doing it while I was still healing. The 6th anniversary of my Divorce Day (aka Love Zaakirah Day) Is March 11. Those summits cracked something open in me. They reminded me why I started. And honestly? They're part of why I keep going. I just knew there was a conversation that wasn't happening loudly enough — about disability, faith, identity, travel, and the lives we're building in spite of and because of all of it.

The summits taught me that I can gather people, but they also taught me that women are not waiting to be included. They're building their own tables — and they're doing it with creativity, humor, and grace that most people don't have the range to witness.

→ The intersection of Blackness, disability, and faith is rich, underexplored, and deeply needed in mainstream media.

→ Community is not a byproduct of good trouble. It IS good trouble.

Whose story is shaping you this Women's History Month? A woman you know personally. A figure from history. A voice online. Someone who never got the credit.

If you've been part of a past See Life Different Summit, you already know what we built together. Although I know that you don't have the time or capacity for long form content, the recordings are still available and in the digital library archives.

Although I am not doing them again, if I’m honest, part of my growth now is admitting that impact without support is not sustainable. That's how partnerships and collaborations start, but it's also what caused the demise of the barter.

I was stretched thin. I didn’t always have the team, the infrastructure, or even someone asking what I want to eat. But I meal prepped though, and rewarded myself with a cheat meal at the end of it.

And when I say “See Life Different,” I mean it. I had to see my own life differently, first. I am not a woman who must constantly prove her worth through output. I am not a woman who has to build publicly while processing privately.

I am not the inspiration pity party. I am not the "overcame all odds" narrative that centers disability as the conflict and productivity as the resolution. I am the full, complicated, brilliant truth of a disabled, Black woman who has shaped culture, community, and movement. It's a kind of quiet pressure that reminds me on how far I've come — and how much further I still have to go.

The summits were sacred. But so is rest. So is evolution. So is building slower and deeper.

I’ve been figuring out how to best serve you in this new season. I want to build not from a place of burnout or pressure, but from true alignment.

I’ve been asking myself:
​What do you actually need right now?
What feels sustainable for me and transformative for you?
What kind of rooms do you want to be in next—and why?

Is it overcoming the fast pace of AI and social media?
Is it overcoming the fear and just doing whatever "it" is?
is it further understanding how to be a more empathetic advocate to those who are disabled?

Hit reply and tell me. I read every response.

If you were ever in one of those rooms where I've spoken — thank you.

If you watched from afar prior to this email — thank you.

If you’ve ever started to build something beautiful while quietly overextending and breaking inside — just know I see you.

I am Zaakirah (zaa-key-ra) Muhammad, a deafblind retinoblastoma cancer survivor, creative tech-savvy entrepreneur and TEDx speaker, with over a decade of experience in photography and digital communications. As a brand cultivating strategist, author, and podcaster, I empower you to step outside of your comfort zone, understand your purpose, and show you how to powerfully tell your story through digital marketing. As your brand therapist, I uncover your blind spots showcasing your superpower. Learn More $9.99 Seeing Life Through a Different Lens eBook This book will inspire you to overcome adversity with resilience. Featuring real-life stories about a young adult and... Read more Get it now! ​ ​​​​​​

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