THANK YOU.
The Black Body Curve was facilitated by the generous support of the Leeway Foundation through an Arts & Change Grant. Leeway funds Philadelphia area women and trans artists creating work at the intersection of art & social change. A truly visionary organization.
The VONA/Voices community is simply everything in the growing up of this collection. VONA/Voices offers safe and sacred space to be whatever is necessary in the journey of becoming a writer/artist. Special Thanks to co-founders and artists in their own right, Elmaz Abinader and Diem Jones. Find out more about this one-of-a-kind organization here.
Hedgebrook: heaven must be like this. So much of the research and tons of the writing for this collection was done in Waterfall Cottage in the autumn of 2009; but, mostly I am grateful for the weeks of sitting still on the window seat with a beautiful view and books and books and good food and good dinner company and sweet, sweet solitude. For women authoring change, this is the place.
Several of the poems in this collection first appeared in the chapbook, Ultraviolet Catastrophe, from West Philly's grassroots publisher, THREAD MAKES BLANKET PRESS. It is an honor to be the inaugural poet for the TMB imprint. Check out their latest releases: Nomad of Salt and Hard Water, by Cynthia Dewi Oka and Treasure|My Black Rupture, by Anna Martine Whitehead. Hear from TMB's Founder, Publisher and "Chief Obsessor," Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela here.
Temple University Special Collections Research Center and Urban Archives are wonderful resources for anyone interested in Black Culture, Urban Culture and/or Philadelphia Stories. The staff are welcoming and knowledgeable. I highly recommend making a visit. Find out more here.
I like to read these journals, so I'm glad some of these poems first found homes within their covers. Click icons to look inside.
With much appreciation to the Creative Commons: Artists and Archives that make their creations and collections available to everyone. Check back soon for an updated list with links. I hope you are inspired, as I am, to use these resources to bring more art into the world.
PERSONALS
Special thanks to the beautiful/challenging few who have influenced, sustained and upheld this writer & her work over the years, often against her/my will...Look for their work, be amazed, and may they continue to inspire in the most lovely and subversive ways...
Suheir Hammad / Willie Perdomo / Jourdan Keith / Kellie Stevens Kane / Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela / Leah Thomas / Madalyn Bethel / Sham-E-Ali Nayeem
With much gratitude to all the Black People who helped raise me, especially the neighbors and families of 62nd & Spruce St, the 200 Block of South Hirst Street & the 6100 Block of Irving Street in the Cobbs Creek area of West Philly. Special Shout Outs to The Chapman's, The Miller's, The Owens', The Walker's, The McGilberry's, The Warr's, The Barkley's, The Claxton's, The Thornton's, The Jones', The Parnell's, The Thomas', The Robinson's, The Singleton's, The Smart's, The Moore's, The Mack's, The Mitchell's... Dr. Chandler...and the many other seen and unseen hearts & hands that sacrificed for our benefit.
