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P Celeste Burks

@beingpceleste

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Building community like it’s my love language
Advocating for families that choose each other
Led by faith. Lit by purpose.

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A week ago, we said goodbye as we celebrated your beautiful, accomplished life.

Loving you is my distinct honor.
Calling you Mom is my ultimate blessing.
Witnessing your life was witnessing God’s work firsthand.

Thank you for your life.
Thank you for your love, your prayers and your faithfulness.

Thank you for every hug, every kiss, every smile — and even every frown. Thank you for the correction and the redirection. For believing in me, praying over me, covering me and loving me.

Thank you for everything you poured into me — every lesson, every conversation, every look and every whisper. So much of who I am carries the imprint of who you were.

Knowing you are with your Heavenly Father gives me peace, because I know you are at peace. And even as my heart aches because I miss you, I am grateful that I had the extraordinary privilege of being your daughter.

I will honor you.
I will honor your walk.
I will carry forward what you taught me.

And Mommy, just know…

I got this.

You prepared me well. You prayed for me. You poured into me. And I know those prayers didn’t stop working simply because you went home.

Rest easy, Mommy.

Love you beyond… always. ❤️

#amotherslove #adaughterslove by @beingpceleste

Not everything I’m building is meant to be seen right now. Some things grow best when they’re protected, intentional, and steady.

No rush. I know where I’m going.

The work speaks. I just show up.

Confidence doesn’t need volume.
💯

#manifestingdreams #manifestingabundance
#letsgo by @beingpceleste

They thought I was down for the count—head bowed, heart shattered, reputation in question. They whispered, speculated, and threw dirt with both hands, praying it would stick. They sat in rooms built on gossip, clinking glasses to my downfall. But God? God said, Not yet. Not her.

When the report came back—allegations unsubstantiated, lies exposed, silence from those who once screamed the loudest—I didn’t need revenge. I had redemption. I stood up, straightened my crown, and smiled through the smoke. Bitches, I’m back.

See, no one writes my story but me and the God who created me. They tried to narrate my ending, forgetting that I’m the main character, not the footnote. Even when they knew the truth, they chose a version that served their jealousy. But that wasn’t the end of me—it was the end of that chapter.

Now, I’m flipping the page. New story. New book. Same anointed pen. Let’s begin.

#unsubstantiated
#butgod
#letsgo
#newchapter
#newstory

📸: @divinebydesignimage
Location: @theparkrva by @beingpceleste

God only knows. God knows you, your journey, your life. God only knows. Whatever the situation, God only knows. Don't worry yourself with people's judgment because they dont know your joirney. They dont know your heart. God only knows.

As I look at these photos, there's an unwritten story behind each smile. Sometimes, I smile to keep from crying, but guess what, God knows. God knows my hurts and joys. In all things, I'm grateful for each phase, each smile, and each laugh. There are moments of weakness and strength, God only knows. And for His knowing I'm grateful.

I encourage each of us to keep going, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and be safe knowing that God only knows.

#godonlyknows by @beingpceleste

Sometimes, the most meaningful professional development has nothing to do with what you learn, but everything to do with what you rediscover about yourself.

I've spent more than three decades navigating professional spaces, building relationships, leading teams, solving problems, & delivering results. Along the way, I've learned to read rooms, manage personalities, anticipate challenges, & sometimes make myself smaller to make others comfortable.

Those skills served me well professionally. But I've come to realize that some of what we call adaptability is actually survival. And sometimes, we carry those behaviors long after we've earned the right to put them down.

Attending COS26 reminded me of something I hadn't realized I'd been missing: the freedom to simply show up as myself.

Among leaders from vastly different industries, backgrounds, & experiences, I found familiar challenges, honest conversations, shared vulnerabilities, & a genuine sense of belonging. No need to explain my presence or prove my value. Just an opportunity to learn, contribute, laugh, challenge, & be challenged.

That's a different kind of professional development. That's healing.

I'm grateful to the Chief of Staff Association for cultivating a community where professional excellence & personal authenticity can coexist. Where our differences enrich the conversation, our experiences connect us, & our imperfections don't disqualify us from belonging.

I've attached a reflection that reaches back to a little girl in ballet shoes who was learning to navigate the world long before she understood why she had to.

I didn't know that COS26 would bring me back to her.

But I'm glad it did.

Same girl. Bigger rooms. Still belongs.

#COS26 #ChiefOfStaffAssociation #Leadership #Belonging #AuthenticLeadership by @beingpceleste

He’ll take the pain away, I know. He’ll take the pain away.”

This has been one of my favorite songs over the years. It reminds me that God knows and sees all. It reminds me that He never gives us what He won’t help us bear. And in due time, He will take the pain away.

I trust this. I stand on this.

God has never failed me, and He won’t now.
No matter the sleepless nights, the tears, or the overwhelming waves of grief that feel as though they will wash me away, God will not let any of it overtake me.

My mom taught me to trust God. As a child, I wondered how you could trust someone you couldn’t see. Yet, even then, I fell in love with the stories of Jesus and the Bible.

When I was 12, my mom was involved in a horrific car accident. Those who saw the wreck said they knew no one could have survived it.

But God.

In that moment, I began to understand who God was—a silent, powerful force who takes care of His own. I couldn’t see Him, but I could see what He had done.

Now, as I navigate this part of life without my mom, I remember the lessons she taught me:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord.

And as I look up, I ask Him to take the pain away.
I ask Him to wipe my tears.
I ask Him to heal my heart.

Lord, this morning I see Your glory in the sunrise. I hear it in the birds chirping. I know You are still here.

So I ask You to place Your loving arms of care and protection around all of us who have lost someone we love and are struggling with the weight of that loss.

You know our hearts.
You know our grief.
You know the heaviness we carry.
Remind us that You are carrying it all.

On You, we can lay our burdens, our heartache, and our troubles. In You, we can find relief, restoration, and renewal.

We trust You even when we don’t understand.
We trust You through the tears.
We trust You through the silence.
We trust You in all things.

And when the grief tells us the pain will always feel this heavy, remind us of what we already know:

He’ll take the pain away, I know.
He’ll take the pain away. by @beingpceleste

Some news I'm incredibly proud to share.

I've been named one of the “Top 10 Inspiring Women Creating Their Own Success” — and the feature has been published by NY Weekly Magazine, Disruptors Magazine, and Women’s Herald.
I don't take recognition like this lightly.

My journey has taken me through classrooms, city halls, boardrooms, communications offices, community spaces, entrepreneurship—and more than a few moments when I had to build the plane while flying it.

Success, for me, has never been about following a perfectly mapped path. It has been about creating one—using every experience, every challenge, every pivot, and every lesson to keep moving forward.
And at this stage of my life and career, I'm still creating.

Still building. Still telling stories. Still opening doors. Still betting on possibility. And still becoming.
I'm honored to stand alongside nine remarkable women who are creating success on their own terms.

Thank you to NY Weekly Magazine, Disruptors Magazine, and Women’s Herald for the recognition.
And here's to every woman who has ever had to create the opportunity she couldn't find.

Keep creating. Your next chapter may be your best one yet.

NY Weekly Magazine: https://www.nyweeklymagazine.com/blog/top-10-inspiring-women-creating-their-own-success

Disruptors Magazine: https://disruptorsmagazine.com/top-10-inspiring-women-creating-their-own-success/

Women's Herald: https://womensherald.com/top-10-inspiring-women-creating-their-own-success/

#WomenInLeadership #WomenWhoLead #Leadership #Communications #Entrepreneurship WomenInBusiness CreatingSuccess NextChapter by @beingpceleste

UNCOMMON VALOR. UNBREAKABLE COMMUNITY.

This weekend, I returned home because the Athens Chapter of ASALH was hosting an event entitled Uncommon Valor, honoring six Black educators who helped transform the Clarke County School District during one of the most difficult and turbulent periods in American history.

Integration was not easy in the South, and Clarke County was no exception. But under the leadership of Mr. Sam Wood, the school district began the work of integration before it was mandated to do so.
That made the assignment no less difficult.

In 1966, Mr. Wood called my mother, Johnnie Lay Burks, along with several other courageous Black educators, to help integrate the Clarke County School District.

This was no small undertaking.
They walked into schools, classrooms and communities during a time when simply crossing those thresholds required courage. They carried the responsibility of educating children while simultaneously helping change a system.
Last night, many of those courageous souls were honored.

Walking into the district headquarters was especially meaningful because beside me were my mother's oldest sister, my Aunt Alice, and my mother's best friend, Aunt Aurelia.

And as I sat there reading the program and looking at the names of the honorees, something struck me:
We had a community.

Of course, I've always known that. But last night, I understood it differently.

The late Mr. Walter Allen Sr. and the late Mrs. Victoria Baker Stroud were our neighbors on Swanson Circle. Their children were my mother's students at Chase Street Elementary or Clarke Middle School.

Walter Allen Jr. served as my parents' ring bearer. He grew up to become my mother's favorite photographer and videographer. And in my mother's passing, he has become my big brother—just as she wanted.

His dad, Walter Allen, Sr. was sending students to college before integration. He recognized talent and nurtured it. Forever the band man, musician, and teacher.

COMMUNITY.

Mrs. Stroud taught with my grandmother in Barrow County. Her daughter Keisha and I grew up together.

COMMUNITY.

The late Ms. Jeannette Browning was the media specialist at Clarke Middle School by @beingpceleste

Before anyone says anything.- no, I did not attend Clark College or Clark Atlanta University. But Clark shaped me long before I was even thought of.

My mom graced the campus of dear ol’ CC. It was there that she pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., formed friendships that would last a lifetime, discovered more of who she was, and began preparing for the professional journey that would ultimately touch generations.

And she wasn’t alone. My godmother and two of my great-aunts also matriculated and graduated from Clark College. So while I may not have walked those halls as a student, Clark has always been part of my story.

Because institutions don’t just shape the people who attend them. They shape the people those graduates go on to raise, teach, mentor, lead and love.

Clark helped give my mother purpose. It strengthened her confidence. It helped prepare a young woman who would become an educator, counselor, community leader and my mother.

And everything Clark poured into her, she poured into me.

So today, I simply say thank you, Clark College for molding my mom, my family, and so many others who left that campus prepared to make a difference.

It may have been A Different World, for sure. But Clark College prepared them for this world.
And they, in turn, prepared us.

❤️🤍🔺 Dear Ol’ CC. by @beingpceleste

Up in the Clouds

As I journey home this morning, I’m looking out the airplane window, surrounded by clouds.

I’ve always had this childlike thought that somehow, when you’re up in the clouds, you’re a little closer to heaven.

And this morning, she feels closer.

Maybe it’s my mind playing tricks on me. Maybe it’s simply that little girl in me who still wants to believe that if I get high enough above the earth, somehow I’m a little nearer to my mom.

Whatever it is, I’ll take it.
It’s a beautiful morning. The clouds seem softer. The sky feels peaceful. And somehow, I believe she had something to do with it.

Maybe it’s her way of welcoming me home to the place where my story began. Her way of reminding me that everything is going to be okay. Her way of letting me know that although I can’t see her anymore, she’s still with me. Still loving me. Still watching over me.

So this morning, somewhere between heaven and home, I’m just going to enjoy the view—and imagine that, for a little while, I’m closer to her.

Up in the clouds. Closer to heaven. Closer to her, my mom. by @beingpceleste

Nights in Paris: Perle Noire

There are nights in Paris… and then there are nights that stay with you.

This was one of them.

An evening at the opera for Perle Noire, a powerful tribute to the incomparable Josephine Baker — a Black woman who came to Paris, commanded its stages, challenged its expectations, and created a life that could not be confined by anyone else's definition of who she should be.

Sitting there, I couldn't help but think about the power of becoming.

About walking into new spaces without shrinking.
About reinvention without abandoning who you are.
About allowing yourself to be elegant, bold, complicated, brilliant — and free.

And somewhere between the music, the story, the history and the beauty of Paris, I found myself reflecting on my own journey.

Maybe that's why this photograph speaks to me.
I'm not looking at the camera.
I'm looking forward.

Nights in Paris.
Josephine's legacy.
And a woman still becoming.

Perle Noire. 🖤🇫🇷✨ by @beingpceleste

📻 Sonoma County Library hits the airwaves!

Petula Burks, Director of Communications for Sonoma County Library, joined the Ziggy Style Radio Show for a conversation about the library, the communities we serve, and how today’s library goes far beyond books.

From connecting people with resources and opportunities to creating spaces for discovery, culture and connection, there’s a lot happening at Sonoma County Library — and we’re always excited to share the story.

🎙️ Listen in and hear why the Library Hits Different.

#SonomaCountyLibrary #TheLibraryHitsDifferent #ZiggyStyle #SonomaCounty #LibrariesTransform CommunityConnections by @beingpceleste