Dear Maggie Nelson,

I am grateful for what I imagine to be your endurance through the process of obtaining a Ph.D. so that you could command the audience to prove that a book does not have to be spoon-fed narrative pablum to be richly satisfying and saturated with the truths of the human condition, to inspire innovation and reinforce lesser-expressed ways of being that transcend the status quo and imagine a more liberated future.

What a strange book to stumble across in such a moment of existential anxiety when it seems so many people believe knowing all the dangers Orwell warned us about could inoculate us from them.

The change I want to see in the world must happen inside of myself first.

What I really needed was a break. A break from trying to get it right, a break from striving, a break from the ridiculousness of the 21st century, a bestie to not brightside my shitty fucking day. 

Piepzna-Samarasinha’s thought-provoking work can help us to excavate any rugged (toxic) individualism we may have adopted, and rebuild our brains with collective care in mind. 

Anyone who has been rode hard and put away wet by the patriarchy will resonate with Carol Odell’s page-turner now available on preorder from bookshop.org. (Girl, Groomed by Carol Odell, LICSW) 

For those among us gasping for air these past few weeks, Undrowned, Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs  is a perfect companion to this moment. If you have not yet heard of it, please add to cart. Preferably from an indie bookstore.

I’m adding “NECESSARY” to the badges this paperback wears on its cover. 

Between Queers, this book is a necessary cathartic cry with a friend who gets it. Comforting. Loving. A cool drink of water or a cup of hot tea. Being seen.