<Downloadable PDF in the series is forthcoming. In the meantime, please refer to their Blog post>

Publication Date: June 19, 2025

Citation: Roelofse, E., (2025). Moment of Truth Playbook: Black Capital Studies. Institute for Quantum Innovation and Impact, Qii Moment of Truth Series (Qii MOT No. 1-27, published in 2025).

License: Open access under CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0

Available at: www.theQii.org/portfolio/Julie-Molisho

The River Knows Where We Come From

Julie Molisho did not plan to become a community leader.

She planned to catch the right bus.

But when she waited two hours at a stop—watching the bus pass her three times without knowing it was hers—she realized something deeper: the system wasn’t built to welcome her.

She came from Congo in 2010 with her husband. Neither of them spoke English, but they needed to escape violence perpetrated by both rebel and government forces.

But a better life has its own barriers.

By 2014, she was in Iowa.

She could speak some English.

Others could not.

And so she became a bridge—not because she was ready, but because she was there.

This is Julie Molisho’s Moment of Truth.