Thread by @jackfrombkln

@JillianBerman So, a bit about the whole "self-made" nonsense…

My sister Sam met Barry when she was 15. He had muscles and a motorcycle and she got pregnant and dropped out of high school. At 17 she had two kids, no education, and an abusive husband. And she thought to herself:

@JillianBerman "This is not the life I imagined for myself. I can do better.

So, while working at the post office and taking care of two kids, she went to night school and got her G.E.D. "This is a start" she thought, "but I can STILL do better for myself."

@JillianBerman Still working at the post office, she went back to school (again) and got a Masters in Education. This was impetus enough to leave the abusive husband, who by now she'd long outgrown. "This is good" she thought, "but I still know what I'm capable of."

@JillianBerman "And I'm nowhere close to my potential. I can do better than this."

So she put herself through law school. Graduated Magna Cum Laude with a focus on environmental studies. Spent 8 years working in Albany for (then) Governor Pataki, before moving back to NYC…

@JillianBerman And being appointed an environmental judge. After 8 years of black robes, she was appointed Special Counsel to the Mayor of NYC on Environmental Issues. She literally writes environmental law for NYC, and @NYCMayor signs it.

@JillianBerman @NYCMayor She's got zero student debt, owns two homes, and is married to the love of her life. She's not worth the better part of a billion dollars; she's too busy actively trying to save the world (also she's 65 in this picture)

@JillianBerman @NYCMayor Careful how you use that phrase "self-made." Women of color have been making and remaking themselves in this country for centuries.