Author Lisa Craig Taylor Embraced Her Pain to Show Others Their Purpose

By Keisa Sharpe-Jefferson | For The Birmingham Times Last year, Lisa Craig Taylor found that, even with all her accomplishments, she was engulfed in a sea of depression. She had learned to “embrace that there’s purpose in your pain” when her first husband was shot and killed during daylight hours in Ensley in 2003, in a case that still has not been solved. Taylor said she looked at her three children at the time and it motivated her to keep pushing, even when she wanted to give up. Then, last year, after watching an encouraging video on social media, she found the courage and grit to put pen to paper. She wrote about her journey of overcoming fear of speaking up for herself, and shared her battle with depression. The result is “My Voice is Dope,” which was published on February 29 at www.mahogany.com linking Taylor with an esteemed group of other Black, female writers as part of the Hallmark Mahogany Published Writers. Taylor a fan of hip hop remembered that the word “dope” was used to declare that the music was praiseworthy, cool and great. She tapped into memories that brought her joy and hip hop was a source...