Author and Girls Advocate Wants People To “Move Beyond The Block”

La’Keisha Gray Sewell, founder of Girls Like Me Project, is the author of “Move Beyond the Block.” Photo provided by La’Keisha Gray Sewell.
La’Keisha Gray Sewell, founder of Girls Like Me Project, is the author of “Move Beyond the Block.” Photo provided by La’Keisha Gray Sewell.

Author and Girls Advocate Wants People To “Move Beyond The Block”

By Tia Carol Jones

LaKeisha Gray-Sewell released “Move Beyond the Block” in 2018. Since it was released, the book has sold more than 400 copies. Gray-Sewell wants the book to be a learning tool.

“Move Beyond the Block” includes Gray-Sewell’s persona narrative, along with the stories of 18 women who have ties to Chicago. The goal of the book is to inspire girls and women, while highlighting the achievements of notable women.

The idea for the book came from Gray-Sewell posting quotes on social media. The feedback she received from those posts led her start to gather those posts and turn them into the “blocks” that are in the book. Gray-Sewell is the founder of Girls Like Me Project, a girls advocacy organization. This book is an extension of the work she does with the organization.

“What I found is that girls need less work than adult women, because adult women have gone so long without the work that myself and other girls advocates and other girls mentors are giving our girls at ages 11, 15 and 16. This book extends that service and that grace to adult women,” she said.

Gray-Sewell had been discouraged from sharing her story while she was in college, but as she started to work with Black women, training and coaching them, she knew what she had to say was valuable and her voice was worthy of being heard.

It took Gray-Sewell nine months to a year to complete, with six months to write the book, and another three months of editing and research. She wanted the 18 women to be from Chicago because they had a real global impact that showed a transformation of where they started and where they ended up.

“I also looked at the women who I looked to, who also play pivotal roles in my life, not that I knew them personally, but whose stories, art, whose philosophies and writing really shaped me,” she said. She also reached out to people in her social media network for recommendations of women who she should feature in the book.

Gray-Sewell said the block can be anything. It can be a stepping stone or a starting block or other blocks, like roadblocks. She said if people tap into it, people can move beyond it, whatever it is.

Gray-Sewell said there are several takeaways from the book. One is that while there are stereotypes about where people belong and what they should do in the world, she wants people to free and liberate themselves from that. She hopes people move beyond self doubt and the insecurities they have around what they can and cannot do. She also hopes people reflect on their own challenges they need to move beyond. She wants people to use the book as a mirror to see the good in themselves, but also see the ways they can improve, getting rid of the old mindsets and habits that are holding them back.

“The No. 1 takeaway is that where you’re from does not determine all of those social detriments that people try to get you to believe make you who you are; your zip code … where you went to school, what grades you got, this will all determine the value that you’ll bring to a job or to society,” she said. “I just hope when people read this book, that they’ll hold it, not just for a one time read, but as a resource to keep coming back to and keep reminding themselves that they are not confined to any conditioning, to any societal limitations, but only to that which is implanted in them by the Most High God,” she said.

Gray-Sewell said the feedback from the book has been positive. Some people have said the book is powerful and has saved their lives. They also have said that they continually read the book because it serves as a reminder for them.

For more information about Move Beyond the Block, visit www.movebeyondtheblock.com.

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