prologue | welcome home

Alexis Pauline Gumbs 00:00:15 What does it mean when the forms of recognition that we understand will support our lives are not doing the work that we actually need to be able to turn in and see each other. Naomi Jackson 00:00:28 And I think invisibility is like a writer's superpower. I know the ability to air hustle and to move more seamlessly in and out of spaces. Staceyann Chin 00:00:38 And I remember holding for a very long time inside of myself because here I was in a new place and no one knew me and I could continue to make the lies that I had been doing, or I could chuck the whole thing and speak truth. Speaker 3 00:01:00 Hey Tami. Hey Kaiama. Kaiama Glover 00:01:03 So here we are not exactly where we expected to be. Speaker 3 00:01:07 No, but a very good place, nonetheless. KG 00:01:11 Okay. True, indeed. Well then I'm Kiama Glover Tami Navarro 00:01:16 And I'm Tami Navarro and KG 00:01:18 You're listening to Writing Home: American Voices from the Caribbean. TN 00:01:22 The words you've just heard are those of Alexis Gumbs, Naomi Jackson, and Stacyann Chin, three extraordinary Black women we've had the pleasure and privilege of being in conversation with over the past few months. KG 00:01:35 Now these conversations actually took place and entire world away from here and now, a time before the pandemic that shut us all in on ourselves, and before the most recent horror show of anti-black violence, that's brought so many of us back together in defiance and refusal. TN 00:01:51 That's right. These conversations grew out of the live event series, Critical Caribbean Feminisms, a series that since we started it back in 2015 has showcased some truly phenomenal writers. KG 00:02:04 So Writing Home came out of those live conversation as a way for us to delve deeper into our guesswork. And then also to share that work with a wider audience online, of course, who would have guessed how key that digital turn would end up being, one of the many lessons 2020 has been teaching us. TN 00:02:21 That's right. What's our hope that in this moment of uncertainty, these three conversations can serve as a space of reflection and joy. Each one is a testament to the immense power and equally daunting perils of diasporic Black feminism. There are truly treasures to be found here. KG 00:02:39 So that's all to say: welcome, welcome to writing home. We hope you'll find as much insight, solace and breath in the words of our guests as we have. And we also hope that we'll have left you wanting more.