A Little About Rachel Loko
A Little about Rachel Loko
A little about me as start off on the Medium journey. My name is Rachel Loko (surprise!) I’m a lawyer and former microfinance volunteer. And perhaps most important, I count myself as lifelong (aspiring!) world traveler (until the Pandemic) and learner. So when I’m not plotting her post-COVID travel plans, I spend my time reading the latest in economics and social policy and searching for the best in aphorisms and humor in a world lacking both.
Here are the favorite who’s who questions, so here it goes:
My favorite book: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. For all the claims that they’re children’s books, those who grew up to love, read and re-read them know better. I always fall for the emotion, but after you fall for the book, the characters fall for each other, and grow up. And you know the journey will end all the same. Ron and Hermione fall in love, Neville stands up to you know who — and it’s no surprise you get a movie out of it.
Speaking of, my favorite movie: The Color Purple. The pain, promise, and redemption. (Not to mention, the acting!!) Nearly four decades later, hits you in the heart, and soul like no other. (And makes you wonder about Holywood’s capacity for either given the absence of any Oscar nod). And I can’t get started on the Best Actress issue.
My favorite politician: To Be Determined. (Can you blame me?). We’ll wait to see what the next four years bring, and I’m hopeful. But we’ll see.
My favorite poem, from the great poet Aimé Césaire (yes, I speak French, too y’all!):
La roue est la plus belle découverte de l’homme et la seule il y a le soleil qui tourne
il y a la terre qui tourne
il y a ton visage qui tourne sur l’essieu de ton cou quand tu pleures
mais vous minutes n’ enroulerez-vous pas sur la bobine à vivre
le sang lapé
l’art de souffrir aiguisé comme des moignons d’arbre par
les couteaux de l’hiver
la biche saoule de ne pas boire
qui me pose sur la margelle inattendue ton visage de goélette démâtée
ton visage
comme un village endormi au fond d’un lac et qui renaît au jour de l’herbe et de l’année germe
Best advice I’ve received (in no particular order):
· Being a good person ultimately pays off.
· Be kinder to yourself.
· Always know your worth.
· Learn to swim.
· The World Doesn’t Revolve Around You
· Don’t worry if you look different, or feel you look different, from most other people. There is much more to you than what others see on the surface.”
· The race to the top is rarely straight.
· Don’t dwell on the past. But don’t forget it, either.
I call Washington D.C. my home base, but I’ve lived all over the world, including London, Paris, Nashville and the Ivory Coast. A fan of Les Bleus, I’ve found every means possible of watching international soccer from sports restaurants up and down the East Coast.
If you’d like to know more about me, follow me on twitter, where I’m as likely to wax philosophical or root for the Vanderbilt Commodores, or on my homepages here or here.
