Juliet Takes a Breath

“We are here to celebrate the legacy of our sister, Octavia Butler, one of the greatest writers of all time. One of the only African American sci-fi writers ever. Octavia gave us worlds caught in post-apocalyptic struggles, narratives billowing with critiques of the way racism and brutality are ingrained in white American society and culture, a culture that we must also navigate and reclaim. Octavia gave us the means to do that via a genre where there are no limits. We can be child vampires. We can be warriors. We can be ooloi. We can do it all through writing. This writing series is for the empowerment of Black women and the development of a Black womanist, Afro-futuristic writer’s group. Blackness isn’t limited to African Americans here. We welcome our Afro-Latinas también y toda la gente morena, negrita, el color de la noche y de café con leche. Many of our meetings are closed to non-Black, non-POC individuals but members of the group expressed interest in offering open sessions. White allies, we ask that you respect this space, own your privileges, and remain open to your own journey. We welcome all women here and hope that we can all find or further cultivate our relationship to Octavia Butler’s work and to the world of science fiction. In this series of workshops, we will also produce an anthology of sci-fi short stories with a social justice lens from writers of color. I am Zaira. Thank you, Sisters, for sharing your time and essence with us all.”

Trust your damn self.
Love hard, deep, without restraint or doubt
Love everything that brushes past your skin and lives inside your soul.
Love yourself.

Read all the books that make you whole.
Read all the books that pull you out of the present and into the future.
Read all the books about women who get tattoos, and break hearts, and rob banks, and start heavy metal bands.
Read every single one of them.