We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Trissean McDonald a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Trissean , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The key to success is defined differently by everyone, with no absolute definition of success as long as there’s evidence supporting the hard work and dedication it took for you to achieve an end.

Success requires a lot of molding, which brings about multiple challenges of compromise, adaptability, and reliability. Yet, there is an innate attribute within us all that gives us the power and motivation to press past these barriers to find our ends, which are our successful moments. It applies from infancy to adulthood — from a baby crawling to walking and talking, to an adult perhaps graduating college, finding a job, getting married, and starting a family.

Compromising is a critical component of success, just as it was in the days of slavery. For instance, Congress adopted the Missouri Compromise in 1820, admitting that Missouri was to be a slave state and Main a non-slave state at the same time so that the balance between enslaved persons and free states in the nation would remain equal, according to the National Archives. The compromise created a sense of nationwide adaptability until another settlement proposed by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney shifted gears.

On March 6, 1857, Taney read a court opinion stating that no enslaved person was considered a citizen of the United States — restricting Congressional protective power to aid those in slavery. Considering that the Supreme Court is the highest in the nation, Congress had to rely upon the chief justice’s opinion. Therefore, the three components, compromise, adaptability, and reliability, were met. However, it took about 37 years of hard work and dedication to push the agenda of discrediting, dehumanizing, and oppressing enslaved people, aiming the nation closer to a civil war from 1861 to 1865.

It took a new compromise by President Abraham Lincoln to ratify the chief justice’s opinion in 1863, known as the Emancipation Proclamation, stating that all enslaved people, mainly Black people, within a rebellious state were considered free. Two years after the proclamation, Congress adapted to the new compromise and introduced the 13th Amendment, mandating the nation to adhere to the new standards as well. The Supreme Court, under law, was also expected to follow suit, making the justice department a reliable component to uphold the statute. However, citizens nationwide were not able to accept this new compromise even to this very day.

Black people are still being lynched and incarcerated at a high rate nationwide because of systemic racism and white supremacy, which has always been on the rise nationwide. But it doesn’t stop there. Black people have to endure being maltreated by several racist peers and superiors and told to “develop a tough skin, ” their communities get misrepresented, yet over 300 years of mental and physical enslavement, along with systemic racism, they still fight even harder to meet their ends, especially Black women.

It’s not easy as a Black man finding my ends. However, I do my best daily to shine as brightly as possible for my ancestors as a News Reporter, even when people think otherwise because many of my ancestors had to lay down their lives to build a foundation that many other Black people and I tread upon today, which is the main compromise among many others that I utilize to allow myself to adapt to particular life scenarios that require reliability. Success requires hard work and dedication, achievable through sincere compromise, adaptability, and reliability, and Black people are on the rise to find their ends.

Trissean , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always had a passion for storytelling, but I needed to figure out where it would take me, which took quite some time. Before I decided to make a career out of writing, I would go on story hunts to find compelling content to blog about, which I still do at Trissean’s Blog. However, because I’m a full-time news reporter, it’s a bit more challenging to find human-interest content that doesn’t always fall in the category of breaking or “negative news.”

There are multiple challenges that I encounter daily. However, I remain optimistic about creating a forcefield that blocks negativity, which births counterproductivity.

I went to California State University, Northridge, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. Public relations was not my first major, but broadcast journalism was. The idea of being able to represent a client or brand and still write intrigued me because I also want to help and advocate for people more than tell a story, which I have before becoming a full-time reporter. I worked under contract with several entertainment artists, a movie director, and a South Los Angeles neighborhood as a public relations specialist. Stepping into the field of industrial journalism is quite the challenge, however. But it’s rewarding in many ways because I learn something new daily.

Since I work for a news wire, each time a story I write goes out on the wire is an accomplishment because of all the hard work that goes into it, whether it’s an advisory alert or an actual story. For instance, the multiple breaking news narratives I have to write daily strengthen my skills as a writer and news reporter, even though I have a public relations degree focusing on promotional storytelling and crisis management. It’s a step out of my comfort zone, for sure. However, I’m a person who loves challenges, and a three-time dean’s list accomplishment at CSUN proved just that. Plus, I can do everything through Christ Jesus, who strengthens me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It may sound cliche. However, being about to speak to an audience on a different spectrum by using art. Art is universal. It transcends internationally and is interpreted with multiple perspectives that sparks conversation.
That’s why I’m so intrigued by it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The only particular goal I hold onto is to continue to do the best I can with everything I do, whether people believe I am or not.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://trisseansblog.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/trissean_pr?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrisseanM
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trissean-m-7b6292196/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/trissean_pr?lang=en

Image Credits
All photos are mine