Wooo! If it wasn’t for the Bronx, this Black girl prolly never would be writin’ poems. Shout out to where I’m from. Uptown Baby, Uptown Baby!
Sincere gratitude to Danny Vazquez and the entire team at MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux for believing, and for pushing and fighting for this project to see the light of day.
The women in my family are Gz. All of my love and thanks to Grandma Geraldine, whose words I grew up on & continue to live by. You were the wisest and most stubborn woman the world had to offer.
Ma & Aunty, y’all set the bar high for the woman I always knew I needed to be. Each of you made it possible for me to exist, and there aren’t enough words in all the poems in all the world to amass the supernatural powers each of you possess.
To my father, for everything that you are and for all of the things that you are not.
To my siblings: Thank you for lending me your lives. I am the greatest parts of each of you. I learned how powerful I am by watching you all survive.
Incredible thanks to the next gen & the reasons I grind the hardest: Domo, Larry, Shonyay, Miana, Sierra, Ihsiah, Chancy V., Joseph, Sharissa, Malcolm, Prynce, Autumn, Amazeyn, Bricyn, Alexander, Ariceli, Amari.
Mad love to my Uncle Lyle & the Walford family & the Moody family & the Claffee families & the White family & the Millender family for sitting on the floors of venues way back when every poem rhymed, for coming to the plays & the documentaries, for buying the books, and for every moment you checked for me.
The fiercest: Mahogany L. Browne, you’ve been an anchor and armor since the moment we connected. Seester, for picking me up off of the floor (literally), every time. Jive Poetic, you’ve given me more than enough encouragement to believe in myself.2 Whitney Greenaway for reading every version of this manuscript and learning every version of me.
To Joslyn & Marlene & Kevin & Matthew & Ampi & Meela & Will for lasting love and friendship that taught me the magic of platonic intimacy. The Alston, Rivas & Martinez families, y’all have been here from the beginning and you’re still here.
Eddie, my first boyfriend, you are now, and forever will be, a true love of my life.
Melody, we started out as close friends and are now family forever. #FreeNene ’til we say it backward!
To Isabel & the Rodriguez family, for your constant love and support. Thank you for LJ, he’s the purest and warmest love.
Noel, my brother and business partner, we’re basically married.
Saquayah, I’ve never felt more supported than when I’m on your couch with a warm meal and some iced TP.
Tay, you are always ready to love and super eager to learn. Thank you for showing up.
Charlie Poems! You’ve been a rock even when you weren’t sturdy.
Mel, in the last moments of this, you swooped in and gave the most necessary push. Shout out to G*D for the kind of love few think is possible.
My endless love to the legendary artists and activists of Urban Word NYC. Sofia, Adam, Shanelle, Marissa, Sergio, Jose, MJ, Michael & ALL MY CHILDREN (Slam Dad loves you). Y’all have supported me and contributed to my growth as an artist and human in immeasurable ways.
To the poets and writers who have pushed my pen: Amyra Leon, Katherine George, Steven Willis, Crystal Valentine, Christopher Shawn, Michael Lilley, Anthony McPherson, Paul Tran, Eboni Hogan, Imani Davis, Chelsea Alison, Zubaida Bello, Aaliyah Daniels, Nathaniel Swanson, Demetria Mack, Camryn Bruno, William Lohier, Danez Smith, sam sax, Paragraph, Jamie Lewis, Ebony Stewart (Dear Heart), Jon Sands, Amir Safi, Saraciea Fennell (you trusted my mouth and my heart), Venessa Marco, Edwin Bodney (& Myko), Tre G., Shihan Van Clief, Barbara Fant, Team Feels (Tariq Luthun, Jose Soto, RJ Walker), J.David Ockunzzi (you have the purest heart), Rebecca Gonzales (trampoline), Tongo Eisen-Martin, Joseph Sun Hernandez, Charlie Poems, Danny Matos, Thomas Fucaloro, Rob V., Chulisi, AR Garcia, Angy Abreu, Deria Matthews, Aarushi Agni, Caelan Nardone, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, and the countless others who have lifted, soothed, and endured me as I am, through morality and flaws.
Dear reader: I am grateful for you & your attention. Because of you this book lives another day.