When I started thinking about writing Gumbo Ya Ya, I was in the back of a police paddy wagon in November of 2014. I was 19, committed to community organizing, and passionate about sharing the power of storytelling as a tool for resisting state violence. I never thought my poems would be published around the world, and never imagined they would one day take me with them.



2018 has been one of the most thrilling, humbling, terrifying, and overwhelming seasons of my life. Whew, it's been wild. This year, I signed my first book deal with Write Bloody Publishing! Gumbo Ya Ya will see the world, and I couldn't be more excited. In addition to that, I was accepted to the Summer Literary Seminar as a poet fellow and invited to travel to Nairobi, Kenya  and to the lands of the Maasai tribe to take writing classes, make trans-diaspora connections, and finish this book to prepare it for the world. In the midst of that exciting news, I've also made more difficult discoveries: I've been working with a Panic Disorder (PD) diagnosis, healing from sexual trauma, and earlier this fall, I had to walk away from a toxic, overwhelmingly anti-Black workplace to protect my mental and emotional health. I spent the entire year saving for this trip, and unfortunately had to use most of my savings to cover living costs (thanks, California) in between my previous job and my new position at the Young Women's Freedom Center.

That's why I need your help to get to Kenya! Finishing this project on the continent feels like a special, kindred magic. Spending time in Nairobi, and being invited to Maasai lands to stay and learn about Kenyan afro-indigenous cultures is a dream that is almost within reach! 

I'm raising a total of *$2000.00 for this journey of a lifetime to the continent. 

I have a remaining balance of $1100.00 left to secure my place in the Summer Literary Seminar, but also need to cover the special traveling visa, transportation costs, and bare necessities while I'm out of the country:
*Lodging: $600.00
Meals: $200.00
Transportation: $100.00

I'm raising money until December 5th! I leave for Kenya on December 6th and will spend my birthday (December 16th!) on Maasai land, completing my book's final stages. It is the perfect way to call in my 24th year, and a beautiful way to honor the growth, change, and renewal I've experienced in 2018.

In a political climate that asks Black women to bear the world's burdens silently, and solve all these issues we ain't create in the first place, I'm challenging myself to decolonize what "labor" looks like. I'm leaning into the radical power of art-making, of storytelling as resistance. I believe that poetry's political influence is what keeps me alert, it sustains my spiritual growth so that I have ever fuller capacity to show up for my community in the ways that move us forward. This journey to Kenya helps me walk that a little stronger. Thank you so much for considering donating, and sharing with your friends! I love us, for real. <3 

Will you consider donating what you can today, to help me reach my goal? 


* - this figure has been updated based on the approximate cost of lodging accommodations during my stay.