Vulnerably Black

Vulnerably Black is a lyrical exploration of Blackness in its fullest, richest forms: joy and grief, pride and tenderness, resilience and vulnerability. This collection is not a manifesto, nor a call to action, but a celebration of what it means to exist in Black skin: to carry the weight of ancestry, to honor the rituals of community, to find God in movement and song, and to embrace the sacredness of one's own body and spirit. Through intimate first-person poetry, readers are invited into kitchens, salons, barbershops, HBCU halls, Sunday services, and quiet bedrooms, where Black life unfolds in rhythm, texture, and color. From the soft warmth of love to the unapologetic assertion of identity, each poem is a story, a memory, a hymn. An act of reclamation, reflection, and reverence. This collection embraces the many voices of Black experience: the humor, the tenderness, the ancestral knowledge, the quiet faith, the rebellion, the sensuality, and the resilience that sustains. It is a testament to the beauty, the complexity, and the sacredness of being Black and alive. Vulnerably Black is for anyone who has ever carried the echoes of generations in their bones, for anyone learning to hold pride and vulnerability in one hand, and for anyone ready to witness the intimate, unapologetic poetry of Black life.