As a Black storyteller and connoisseur of Black art and literature, literacy is incredibly important to me. I don’t only want my people to read, I want us to think critically, to share with each other what we are learning and ultimately to feel capable and confident enough to create our own work.
I was recently checking in with Kristina Gisors, an internet friend who is the founder of The BlackLetter Club. She featured me on her platform in 2024. As we talked about where we are on our shared journey of self-generating work for communities that we love, she said something that I haven’t been able to let go of when we were talking about the shared liberation of Black Americans and Black folks in Europe.
“I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have a weapon and my weapons are books.” Of course in this context, we were talking about weapons that we pick up in order to fend for our liberation. Ever since she said this to me, I see it when folks have a clear weapon they are wielding for collective power and when they simply haven’t even thought about it. But most importantly, it has made me reflect on my own weapons.
We all know that Black media and bourgeoisie liberal political spaces are incredibly homophobic and riddled with misogynoir. I have this theory that Black queer femmes are some of the most useful spies for Black queer liberation because of our ability to move in both Black queer spaces as well as Black heteronormative spaces.
To give you an example, I was genuinely surprised when I saw Black women in these spaces galvanize their social capital and resources to launch a campaign to #FreeBG when she was detained in Russia for having an insufficient amount of weed on her while traveling aboard to play basketball. When I saw figures like Jemele Hill, Joy Ann Reid, Angela Rye, and Sunny Hostin wearing We Are BG shirts, I was shook! Mostly because I’ve never seen this class of political Black women organize themselves or even speak openly about the unique political and personal challenges that Black lesbian women face. Especially a masculine presenting lesbian woman whose human rights were being threatened internationally. I credit the success of that campaign and the buy-in of these women to the Black femininity of Cherelle Griner who is a lawyer as well as the wife of Brittany Griner. Brittany’s case was of course ignored by the media, the sports industry and the Democratic leaders who would ultimately be the advocates needed to bring Brittany home. Cherelle played a critical role in making sure that Black women were educated about Brittany Griener’s unlawful detainment and were vocal about making sure she was returned home.
We will never know what it took for Cherelle to get all these women on board but my gut tells me that it was indeed laborious.
I believe in using Black femininity and the stories of our lives as they are and how they could be as a weapon. And I plan on being an excellent shot. This year, and I hope every year moving forward, I’m putting myself in the space to deepen my understanding and commitment to the craft of storytelling. When an IG mutual mentioned that she may be in Los Angeles for a conference that she referred to as the largest writer conference in the country, I knew I needed to know more about what was apparently happening right in my backyard.
The publishing industry and the art of writing is incredibly gatekept despite the medium being such an abundant practice for marginalized voices. I’ve never been a full time writer and I don’t have an MFA. And I’ve been writing as a freelance professional for almost a decade now and I never heard of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). But given my goals for 2025, it was an easy yes when the registration for the conference opened up. I invited my dear friend from childhood and writing buddy Andrew Hairston was able to attend. We had such a wonderful time being newbies. Andrew referred to AWP as a Scholastic Bookfair for adults. Every day of the conference offered some of the most interesting panels I’ve ever had to choose between. Every session I attended not only inspired a part of my craft but put me onto a new writer, book, and creative writing genre.
I started off the conference week at an event hosted by Jacarenda Books at the Reparation Club. Jacaranda is an award-winning Black owned independent publisher and bookseller. I spent the evening talking and laughing with Black girls (…and Andrew! lol) about books while eating soul food in a book store. The event also introduced me to Jessica from Literature Noir Book Club and we had a good ki about the book influencer world. A perfect kick off. I would later learn that Jacaranda was one of the only Black publishers represented at this massive conference. I mostly attended sessions about craft but one of the panels grounded me in the importance of being a Black writer who cares deeply for Black literature and Black readers.
Cave Canem is a nonprofit organization, committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of Black poets. They hosted a panel on a research they conducted called Magnitude & Bond: A Filed Study on Black Literary Arts Organizations. We all know that some of our most powerful movements in politics and culture start with education. However, I was shocked to learn how little funding is going to Black literacy organization despite a rise in attention toward work written by Black folks in 2020. The report revealed that they have not retained ANY of the new donors they gained during the 2020 uprisings. And I wonder how true that is for most of us who received countless texts and Venmo hits during that time of white guilt and “solidarity”.
I also loved the accessibility of AWP in regards to how each session attached the full agenda for participants to follow along. Because I want you all to get a taste of what I was able to experience in real time, I have saved and downloaded each PDF for the sessions I attended as well as a few sessions I wish I was able to go to. Click through them. Google the writers. Read what they shared and follow your own curiosity!
That Thin Fire Racing Under Skin: Writing Sapphic Desire
Panelists:
Claudia Cortese (they/she)
Donika Kelly
Zefyr Lisowski
m. mick powell
Rachel M. Simon (she/they)
Bad to the Bone? Crafting Deviant Characters
Panelists
Jessamyn Violet
Francesca Lia Block
Maurice Carlos Ruffin
K. “Kayla” Ancrum
Sophia Babai
What Is and What If: The Speculative in Creative Nonfiction
Panelists:
Adèle Barclay
J. Nicole Jones
Nisa Malli
Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
Emilly Prado
Holy F**k: Women, Faith & Sex in Fiction
Panelists:
Deesha Philyaw
Felicia Berliner
Aaliyah Bilal
Dantiel W. Moniz
Panelists:
Erica Berry
Freda Epum
Emily Raboteau
José Vadi
Magic, Ghosts & the Uncanny: The Hidden Logic of Fiction
Panelists:
Claire Jiménez
Grace Elizabeth Butler
Olufunke Ogundimu
Raul Palma
Soul Searching in the Archives: How to Research A Memoir That Sells
Panelists:
Lee Oglesby
Marian Schembari
Michelle Bowdler
Susan Shapiro
Panelists:
Nick Makoha, PhD
Malika Booker, PhD
Elontra Hall
I hope you all enjoy these docs and whatever they unlock for you as a writer and a reader. AWP affirmed so much for me as a writer who wants to create an environment adjacent to the literary industry to ensure my work remains accessible and free flowing…for my community but also for my mental health! If you have questions or want me to go deeper into what I gathered from a session, comment, repost with your thoughts, or slide into my DMs!