for several years now, Black August has become a month of Black freedom fighter poetry, cultivated by Spirit House in NC, by BOLD and others.

and before that Black August has long been a time to be in solidarity with political prisoners, to be aware of the costs and sacrifices made on the long journey of waking up the world out of the nightmare of white supremacy, guided by Malcolm X Grassroots leaders.

i have come to anticipate this month of creative blackness, and this year it got the upgrade because The Movement for Black Lives dropped a policy platform yesterday and it’s like an incredible fractal flower that just opens and opens with uncompromising black life! i signed on to breathe it into being based on the top level of demands, and part of how i will spend this Black August is reading every word of it.

i am also in the final month of a 90-day commitment around added sugars and emotional eating that i began in solidarity with freedom fighter Jasmine Richards. the commitment has grown and pushed me to understand my rigor and my weaknesses – this work feels transformative for my black life and black body.

so, my practices – i am wearing my black band and continuing to resist bread, alcohol, grains and added sugars. also committing to a haiku or few a day.

here’s today’s black august offering:

wake up black poets
all your liberation dreams
are fleshed and walking

now go on ahead
sing out loud as you need to
black cacophony

trust in each other
messy lessons grow us up
become together

wake up black poets
carve words as meditation
blueprints, freedom songs

– #blackaugust575 #blackaugust #BOLDblackaugust