MLK day was yesterday, and in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. I continued to practice rest.
resting into reflection
Also, especially after my fall into grace, I’ve been resting and detoxing and healing and slowing down per my body’s request. I remember the times I used to push through as though it were a sign of strength rather than a sign of survival.
In the absence of movement though, and while reflecting on 2025, I took time to document—for myself—the journey of my debut book UNRULY since her first birthday will be tomorrow. I didn’t know that my poetry book would be rejected by publishers more times than my own Black body visiting multiple doctor’s offices when I was dealing with chronic illness. Seriously, invisibility in the medical system prepared me well for the book publishing process and allowed me space to not personalize the challenges. After all, we must be mindful of how much of the system we carry in our bodies if we want to live well.
sovereignty in publishing
UNRULY was later published through a micropress who honored my sovereignty as an author with a very particular voice and narrative, even if the Mothers of Gynecology were the subject of a play many moons ago by a different Black woman artist. Micropresses, small presses, and self-publishing are tiny revolutions in the publishing world and I give thanks for them, because surviving surgery was barrier enough for me. Independent publishing allowed for UNRULY to be birthed.
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