Happy Tuesday! I’ve been working on what I wanted to say when I come back here. The more I wrote and deleted and edited, the thing that kept coming up for me especially because of Women’s History Month, is who liberates you? Last week on March 10, 2023 was the 110th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s death.
I’ve always felt a deep admiration, a kinship, and a loving curiosity in my heart for Mother Harriet, not just because she actively freed us but doing it as a Black, disabled, woman. Doing it as an herbalist, who actively practiced Sankofa. She spent her life reaching back and bringing forward.
One of the first things I thought of when I decided I was going to write about ‘who liberates you’ that great video clip of Maya Angelou from Oprah’s Masterclass talking about how love liberates.
I’m here because of the women who loved me enough to liberate me and who loved themselves and other women enough to have a praxis of liberation even if they didn’t have a word for it.
Because of this I get to proclaim that I’m not self-made. I’m community made, family made, love made. The women who loved me, raised me, taught me, influenced me, showed me how to be unapologetically myself and how to create from that space are the reason I am here today.
I acknowledge the lineage of liberation and love I come from.
I acknowledge my mom first and most especially for still showing me how to show up for others and how to show up for myself. My mom is a masterclass in evolving as a woman and transforming the people around her through her actions and I will always include her and give her her flowers in ANY conversation about the women who lay the foundation for us.
My grandma, Lucy who Lucy Press is named after for being one of my first and greatest literary influences and taking me to that first poetry workshop when I was nine and being there the moment, I realized this was the calling on my life.
My grandma, Lila, for doing some heavy lifting on my behalf from beyond the veil and leading my feet in ways I’m just coming to learn.
My great grandmothers Frances Elizabeth and Emma Louise for everything they did to lie down a legacy for me and for entire generations.
All the aunts, cousins, sista friends, teachers and mentors that are too numerous to name but who are remembered fondly and held in such high regard.
I encourage everyone this week as you celebrate women writers and creatives to consider who has liberated you and how you can pay that forward and how you can keep that fire lit and burning in your own belly. How you can free up others as you continue to do the work to free yourself. In a world and a time where freedoms and liberties are feeling especially disposable. How can you reach back and bring forward in your life, in your family or community?
How You Can Celebrate Women Creatives This Month
Grab your Toni Morrison forever stamps. Released last week, March 7, 2023.
Read or subscribe to yes! magazine
I love this magazine, its brilliant journalism that is fresh, thought provoking, and is inclusive as part of its foundation and not as a buzzword.
Consider joining the flowers book club, Facilitated by the incomparable Kimm D. Lett. This is one of my favorite spaces on social media and the guest authors always feed my soul.
Be intentional about reading books, articles, and consuming content by women. Around here we center Black and disabled women as a matter of course.
Here are some things I’m enjoying right now:
Toni Morrison and The Power of The Sisterhood (harpersbazaar.com)
https://portside.org/2023-03-04/june-jordans-legacy-solidarity-and-love-remains-relevant
Also I’m reading and loving and learning from
And Revisiting
How You Can Support Me?
Subscribe to my YouTube channel! After being on hiatus, I’m back with new videos including thanking everyone for getting me to 200 subscribers!! I’m still so excited that folks remained subscribed while I took some time to take care of myself and redirect and clarify my vision. I have a lot of videos planned for the very near future including daily shorts to show my progress with The Create Before You Consume challenge this week.
More about the challenge here:
Create Before You Consume Sign Up Link
https://www.readwriteandcreate.com/blog/create-before-you-consume-challenge-writers?f
That’s all for today,
Thank You