I want to say that I can't believe that NYPD intruded on your celebration (the old standby "Too loud" no doubt) - but I can't say that. What happened to you is all too frequent and familiar.
Finally: I live in a very diverse - but not over gentrified yet! - neighborhood in Brooklyn and went to Harlem last week to see a friend in a staged reading of two one-act plays. Coming out of the subway at 116th Street. I felt so "at home" and totally felt that "poetry in the way we gather" you mention. It is very real, and wonderful.
Aww da blacks lawdy lawdy da trubble dey seen….da turrible legacy of slavery….Whitey keepin’ us down. In the motherland we wuz kangz and shit, buildin’ pyramids and doin’ calculus.
The invisible and omnipresent vapor of racism. It’s everywhere. Just thwarting black greatness all day every day.
Thank you for sharing your well-deserved and special day with us! I’m very sorry and angry that what looks like an amazing celebration was marred by police.
So very glad to hear WeAlive, Beloved is on the best-sellers list!!! Congratulations!!!
I love this passage from this piece: “Black people existing freely and joyfully even for a brief while is a radical act in such a deeply anti-Black society. To dance, to laugh, to break bread together—these are not mere moments of socialization. They are affirmations of our humanity, declarations that our spirits remain unbroken despite the relentless attempts to shatter them.”
Keep dancing, laughing, and writing! Your words and hope and being all serve to ground me, and remind me to keep on being unapologetically Black and me!
Big Time Congratulations! And thanks for sharing all this love ~ I looked at everyone of the photos and my heart is smilin' so dang wide!! I ordered your book from my local bookstore and just got the email that is has arrived!!
This is beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Just received my copy of We Alive Beloved a few days ago, and it is everything I anticipated and more. Your poetry is something to be savored. I am trying to only read a couple of poems per sitting so I can reflect on them. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability and joy and compassion.
The photos. Oh, the photos. Such joy.
Congratulations on your newest Best Seller!
I want to say that I can't believe that NYPD intruded on your celebration (the old standby "Too loud" no doubt) - but I can't say that. What happened to you is all too frequent and familiar.
Finally: I live in a very diverse - but not over gentrified yet! - neighborhood in Brooklyn and went to Harlem last week to see a friend in a staged reading of two one-act plays. Coming out of the subway at 116th Street. I felt so "at home" and totally felt that "poetry in the way we gather" you mention. It is very real, and wonderful.
Aww da blacks lawdy lawdy da trubble dey seen….da turrible legacy of slavery….Whitey keepin’ us down. In the motherland we wuz kangz and shit, buildin’ pyramids and doin’ calculus.
The invisible and omnipresent vapor of racism. It’s everywhere. Just thwarting black greatness all day every day.
Congratulations on the best seller list! Also I so enjoyed the zoom conversation. Thank you for doing that and allowing us to ask questions!
Wonderful photos of a great gathering!! So delighted for you celebrating with your friends. I will find your book !! Love from Canada !!
Joyful photos!!! Bringing your book with me to read on vacation. It looks wonderful-congratulations
Thank you for sharing your well-deserved and special day with us! I’m very sorry and angry that what looks like an amazing celebration was marred by police.
So very glad to hear WeAlive, Beloved is on the best-sellers list!!! Congratulations!!!
I love this passage from this piece: “Black people existing freely and joyfully even for a brief while is a radical act in such a deeply anti-Black society. To dance, to laugh, to break bread together—these are not mere moments of socialization. They are affirmations of our humanity, declarations that our spirits remain unbroken despite the relentless attempts to shatter them.”
Keep dancing, laughing, and writing! Your words and hope and being all serve to ground me, and remind me to keep on being unapologetically Black and me!
Big Time Congratulations! And thanks for sharing all this love ~ I looked at everyone of the photos and my heart is smilin' so dang wide!! I ordered your book from my local bookstore and just got the email that is has arrived!!
This is beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Just received my copy of We Alive Beloved a few days ago, and it is everything I anticipated and more. Your poetry is something to be savored. I am trying to only read a couple of poems per sitting so I can reflect on them. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability and joy and compassion.