I’m happy. Fully happy — perhaps for the first time in a long time. There have been so many changes in the last couple of years. My husband and I separated after almost 20 years of marriage, I wrote a book ( Off Script: Living Out Loud) full of stories about my personal and professional journey so far. The triumphs. The challenges and the lessons along the way. When George Floyd died, something in me changed. I had used my voice throughout my career, but I started to speak louder about black lives and why they mattered. I used the microphone I had as a talk-show host to share my experiences about being black in Canada. Systemic racism. How allyship works. Being a black mom. The trauma that black people carry as they are pummelled daily with micro aggressions (which are really macro aggressions because they take a huge toll psychologically) and my vision for the country that I love.

A couple months later, I decided to try to put some action behind my words and left my broadcasting job to run in a federal bi-election in the riding of Toronto Centre. It was a 36-day campaign — in a pandemic. No easy feat. We had a small but mighty team. We connected with as many people as we could. On the street. On the phone. Via social media. We told them why we wanted to serve and laid out an inclusive vision. On a late October evening we won — and life changed. A month later — I went to Ottawa for an official swearing-in ceremony. As I signed my name, I thought about my journey this far. What a leap! Here I was at 51 years old — an age where people think about winding down, when they start to imagine the end game and what that might look like — taking a bold new turn. I feel like I’m just getting started.

How am I? Grateful. Re-energised. Ready to serve.