"Happy Mother's Day, to all the Mommys in the world"
-Taj Malik
A few years ago I had an idea for a song I had written titled 'A Mother Like You'. The record was produced by legendary producer DJ Terrorkane and I actually had it sitting for a while prior to the release. But as Mother's Day was approaching that year, I decided to collect as many photos of Mother's that I had any type of connection to, place them in a slideshow with the song playing in the background, and tag them all on social media.
Fast forward time to 2022, my brother Hanif Williams, had an idea that he shared with me. He wanted to create an award called a "Pioneer Lifetime Achievement" award and the first recipient of it would be our mother, Lidia Williams. The best opportunity we would have to give it to her was during our Eid weekend. So Hanif, along with a few members of our family organized a weekend at the beach, in a mansion, with dinner that was prepared by our sister Ayana and good friend Nae as well as some assistance from my wife and some catering by Nazara, one of our favorite restaurants in the Raleigh area.
So, after having to beg my mother to come out of the house, then hold her hostage while we drove another 2 hours to the beach, we finally pulled it all together. Even though this was a week prior to Mother's Day and a week after her birthday, it landed perfectly on the best possible place. Family and close friends joined us for this moment, including our other mother Nilda aka "Jamillah", which made the moment even more magical for us and our siblings.