| Since UNRULY's January release, I've been deep in what I call "the vulnerability paradox"—discovering that the most vulnerable art requires the strongest boundary framework. As I share these deeply personal stories of Black women's bodies, medical trauma, and ancestral healing, I've noticed a pattern:
1. Authentic sharing requires vulnerability—opening ourselves to be seen 2. This vulnerability creates an intimate connection with witnesses 3. This same vulnerability can be misinterpreted as access/availability 4. Therefore, the most vulnerable art requires the strongest boundary practice The vulnerability I practice comes from a lineage of writers like Harriet Jacobs exposing the sexual violence of slavery when such truths were considered unspeakable, Audre Lorde revealing her intimate experiences with illness as political resistance, and Zora Neale Hurston documenting Black life with unflinching honesty when both her race and gender demanded silence. Last month, I was honored to join The Big Up YuSelf Show for a Women's History Month Special on "Re(claiming) Our Bodies & Confronting Medical Racism" where we explored how medical racism functions as a "pre-existing condition" for Black women in America. Our discussion centered on UNRULY's core message: that the Black female body carries archives of both wounding and wisdom. We explored how poetry allows these embodied archives to speak in ways that conventional medical narratives cannot access, creating pathways for both individual and collective healing. |
| This week, I'm thrilled to be hosting "UNRULY: Witnessing an Unprotected Heart"—a special interactive live-stream session through Women Together Connect on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Through poetry, meditation, and guided practice, we'll explore how storytelling creates pathways for healing and transformation. I'll be inviting participants into a space where truth-telling becomes medicine, offering an intimate experience with poetry as a technology for embodied wisdom and collective healing. The event is free, made possible by the Eileen Fisher Foundation.
At the heart of both these events—and UNRULY itself –is a commitment to vulnerability that transforms rather than exploits, that witnesses rather than consumes. It's a delicate dance, this practice of remaining both open and boundaried, but it's where the most powerful healing happens. For those interested in connecting more deeply with my writing join me on Substack here. -Antoinette Cooper |