Do you know who I am? I am Sarah F. - Paris. Do you know who my mom is? I thought so too. Now let me book those brunches.
I used this beautiful, unencouraging phrase to draw me into the giant food stores, churches, dinner theaters, restaurants, and bookstores of my childhood in Columbia, Maryland.
Everyone knows my mom. Everyone.
As you can see above, my mom is a gangster and doesn’t even know it. Dr. Dre tried to get her on the cover of The Chronic album, but she was too busy raisin' kids and gettin' Benjamins.
As he drove downtown towards Lake Kittamaqundi, he barked at high-powered lawyers. Homeless men camped out by the Columbia Mall. Every pastor, minister, and priest in the Greater Columbia area. Toby Orenstein, owner of the county-famous Toby's Dinner Theatre:
“What do you think of Ol'Ma Paris: OG Columbia Gangsta?”
Their eyes lit up when they talked about her kindness and compassion.
They replied, “The loveliest woman ever.” “And so stubborn.”
So yes, I leverage my connections to open doors every time I go home. But I’m just like you. I also need to prove the merits of my role because I go against my mom's reputation to gain opportunities I didn’t earn.
Growing Up a Nepo
As a girl with resilient hair and the energy level of a swarm of murder hornets, I dreaded the “errands” that had my mom dragging me along - a simple trip to the store to pick up a gallon of milk turned into an hour-long saga. A quick stop at the Christian bookstore? The crowd gathered in a frenzy,
we walked around, and at least five random people would stop my mom and share their life stories. “I’ve never told anyone this before” and “Can you pray for me?” were the phrases every person we encountered would say.
“OG Columbia Gangsta? Your mom is the best. You’re lucky to have her,” they said.