Sometimes the Radical Act Is Simply Asking for Help
- Kiana
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Mother's Day weekend... I was supposed to be in South Carolina.
Instead I found myself stranded on the side of the road — two hours from home, no reception, hazards flashing, sitting there for nearly an hour. I tried everything; Life360, Connected Services, SOS features... nothing worked. Not even all the fancy shit in the truck.
And I'll be honest — I was scared. Not just stranded scared; I'm a Black woman in America and I've seen Black women die for less. I ain't trying to be no statistic... that fear was real and I need you to understand that before we go any further.
So I ran through my options. Walk until I got bars? Go to that farm I could see down the road? Or do the thing that felt hardest — call for help.
I called.
Officer Hahn showed up... and he was amazing. Made calls on his own work phone; offered to change the tire himself if I'd had a spare. Treated me like I mattered. Then a truck pulled over... they had already seen me on the side of the road, gone all the way back home to get equipment, and came back just to help if I needed it. Strangers. Just like that.
As we wrapped up I told Officer Hahn exactly why I'd hesitated... what I was afraid of. He didn't dismiss me; he told me that Baker County don't play. That their sheriff teaches respect and responsibility from the top down. Bad eggs exist... but they don't last long there.
I believed him; because I'd just lived it.
I didn't make my trip... but I sat on the side of that road, blew a dandelion into the wind, and let myself just be a girl, broke down, held by strangers.
It turned out just fine.
Here's what I want you to sit with.
The radical act wasn't the blowout. It wasn't even surviving it alone on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere...
The radical act was choosing to trust when every instinct I had — every headline I'd ever read, every story I'd ever heard — was telling me not to.
Self liberation doesn't always look like a protest or a boundary or a breakthrough. Sometimes it looks like blowing a dandelion on the side of the road in Baker County, Florida... and deciding that you're going to be okay.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is let yourself be helped.
What radical act of trust have you had to make lately? Drop it in the comments — I genuinely want to know. 🌼
If this story moved something in you... that's not an accident.
The first chapter of The Radical Act of Saving Your Damn Self! is yours — free. Plus tools to help you break free and start living unapologetically.
Kiana Jordan is a Self Liberation Actionist and the voice behind The Radical Act. Connect with her at kianajordan.com
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