Black Gold: the Road to Black Infinity

Book excerpt: The project is a collection of poems during a period of liberation and the beginning of a process called decolonizing my mind (bell hooks, Sisters in the Yam). As a southern belle from Bible Belt Louisiana that moved to the the Pacific Northwest during the 2016 Presidential elections and consistent waves of unarmed Black folk being killed by the police, I found myself at a place of honest reflection. This collection of poems captures my crisis of faith that was impacted by discovering and embracing my identity as a Black woman, the role that religious institutions play in perpetuating racism and other forms of oppression, the church's collective responses to my community members being murdered by the police in broad day light, and my own disappointment, realizations, and attempts at reconciling my spirituality with my identity in a way that would produce life for me personally. As a Black woman, the act of expression is both dangerous and sacred. I've rarely had the privacy and freedom that I had during this time and the transformation I experienced during this time has changed the trajectory of my life. Thus, this is a very meaningful project for me and I hope this contributes to the awareness of the diversity, beauty, art, pain, legacy, of Blackness in this country.