I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dream (I.A.M.A.W.D. | I Am AWD)
(I.A.M.A.W.D. | I Am AWD)
Glove raised.
Hand pointing upward.
One foot planted firmly in the ring, the other ready to pivot.
This stance is more than victory, it’s transmission. It is the moment where the body, the ancestors, and the inner voice converge to say:
I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dream.
I Am AWD.
Transmission of Victory
This piece stands within my creative journey as a declaration. It holds both the sweat of the gym and the sacred weight of legacy.
When I raised my hand in the ring, it wasn’t about conquering an opponent. It was about decoding the silence of trauma, turning what was once unspeakable into a visible stance of joy and reclamation.
That gesture wasn’t just a pose; it was a transmission. A victory not only personal, but ancestral.
The Seed of I.A.M.A.W.D.
The truth is, this stance was seeded long before I ever stepped into the ring.
The phrase “I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dream” has travelled through many mouths and many spaces before me. What I did was extend its life by breaking it down into an acronym — I.A.M.A.W.D. → I Am AWD.
Spoken aloud, it lands as “I’m hard.”
Badder than bad. A declaration that I Am.
Later, it surfaced in a poem I called I’m Badder Than Bad, where I wrote:
“She’s badder than bad. She’s better than bad. She’s AWD.
Ancestors’ Wildest Dream.”
I didn’t know it then, but those words were already preparing me for the ring.
They gave me language for the strength I had carried all along, the strength that allowed me to navigate controlling domestic abuse, and still choose life.
So when I finally raised my glove in the boxing ring, I wasn’t inventing something new. I was transmitting what had already been with me, waiting for its stance.
Cypher: Decoding the Inner Voice
This piece also speaks to what I call the Cypher, the inner voice, the knowing, the code we all carry. Some call it intuition, some call it spirit, some call it God. For me, Cypher is the ability to break down the code of trauma and transform it into something legible, survivable, even beautiful.
In I Am AWD, that Cypher is what allows me to raise my hand not in shame, but in courage. Not to hide, but to be seen.
This is Self-Love embodied.
Instagram video above is of Amja on “Fight Night” boxing with the Fight Forward Team.
The SSCS™ Framework in the Ring
- Support → Ancestors and community around me, holding space for this stance.
- Self-Love → To raise my hand and say “I Am” is an act of radical worthiness.
- Spirituality → The glove points upward, a reminder of something beyond the visible.
- Security → One foot grounded, the other ready to pivot, body rooted, yet ready, declaring safety in my own becoming.
Through these four steps, I Am AWD is more than an artwork. It is a manual for resilience.
A Wider Creative Exploration
Every woman who stepped into that gym carried her own story, of oppression, challenge, survival. The boxing ring became a space where we could rehearse a new kind of power.
On the canvas, that power becomes permanent. I Am AWD is not just about me. It is about a collective truth: that when one of us raises our hand, we all rise.
This is not a finish line. It’s one moment in a wider creative exploration I’m making, where the boxing gym, the paint, and the body meet.
Invitation
When you see this stance, glove raised, hand pointing upward, I invite you to see more than boxing.
See the ancestors beside the ring.
See the silence being broken.
See the code of trauma being rewritten into courage, joy, and self-love.
When I raised my glove, I wasn’t alone. Ancestors stood beside the ring, watching, holding space, reminding me that every stance I take belongs to something greater than myself.
And perhaps, as you read this, you too will remember: you may already be your ancestors’ wildest dream.
CTA
💌 Read more reflections in the blog archive.
📥 Download the free SSCS One-Pager, a simple tool to start your own decoding and becoming.
A simple tool to start your own decoding and becoming.
With love and light, infinitely ✨
Let Art Be Your Becoming
Antonia (Amja)
I’d love to hear from you — what does being your ancestors’ wildest dream mean to you? Share your thoughts in the comments.