Byrd’s book helps girls navigate tough teenage years
To say that 2020 was the best and worst of times for Brécha Byrd would be an understatement.
Minutes before she was to run onto the court for the Class 1 girls basketball state championship game at Virginia Commonwealth University in March, she learned it had been canceled because of COVID-19. Consolation for her and her Surry County High teammates was a co-state title because they had made the final.
Byrd committed in May to play basketball on scholarship for Saint Augustine’s University. That joy was tempered less than three months later when she received word that her coach at Surry, Mazé Toomer, had died unexpectedly.
Nevertheless, Byrd has thrived in Raleigh, North Carolina, making the Dean’s List, the Provost’s List and the President’s List. Denied again on the basketball court when the Falcons canceled their season, Byrd made it to the NBA All-Star Game as a virtual fan because of a letter she wrote about the meaning of historically Black colleges and universities.
It wasn’t as if anyone in the NBA/ United Negro College Fund contest was going to outwrite Byrd. You see, in a 2020 of ups and downs, Byrd’s biggest high was that she became a published novelist.
“Self Love……LOVESELF” is the 48-page story of Lola Lakes, a compilation of Byrd’s life experiences and those of her friends. Byrd began writing the book at age 15 and finished it her senior year at Surry.
If you’re wondering how any teenager is strong enough to survive the roller coaster of 2020 with her head held as high as Byrd’s, her synopsis of the novel is an explanation.
“Growing up we all go through the journey of finding ourselves and learning about ourselves,” she said. “Sometimes we think we’re a problem and that something is wrong with us, and we think we’re the issue when really we’re not.
“We have to learn to love ourselves. I wanted to do something specifically for girls that would help them along that journey.
“Loving their true selves and just knowing their worth — and every unique thing about themselves — is very important.”
Like many girls in her middleschool-age target audience, those lessons did not come easily for Byrd. But she says the grounding she got from her parents and from St. Paul Holiness Church in Dendron were crucial.
“My parents preached to me that God made me the way that I am for a reason and that I am beautiful, so I should love myself, that I am enough,” Byrd said.
That kind of support helped her deal with some of the sensitive issues faced by teenage girls that include skin color, body shape and hair-type biases. But not everyone has Byrd’s strength and support system, so she hopes to inspire young girls through the story of Lola Lakes as she finds herself and regains her self-love.
“Sometimes society places these requirements that you have to be this or wear this to be beautiful,” Byrd said. “That’s not the case, you can be beautiful by being you and loving you.
“It’s easy to compare yourself to other people and think that you’re not enough when you actually are. I live to inspire and give my all to everything I’m involved in, and to motivate the next person to do the same.”
Byrd’s perspective helped her surmount the obstacles of 2020 that might have discouraged others.
Disappointed that the Cougars did not win the state title outright, Byrd said she nonetheless felt great pride when she and her teammates received championship rings and jackets at a ceremony in December.
“I had mixed emotions, but as the days went by, I realized that you can’t control what you can’t control,” she said. “We were state champions. We earned it. We deserved it.”
Saddened by Toomer’s passing, Byrd felt a flood of gratitude when his widow, Sharon, brought his children to the ring and jacket ceremony.
“We felt his spirit and his presence with us,” she said. “It was a beautiful but bittersweet moment.
“We’re grateful for everything, every victory and every moment with him because he helped us become state champions for life.”