Reconciliation cannot be forced if it is to last. And unity should not come at the expense of the vulnerable. Its integrity depends upon its ability to make the union safe and honorable. How can you become one with a person or system who will not acknowledge or relent in their torment of you? This is not unity; it’s annihilation.

When you spend most of your days demanding life from your mind, its movement can become a nuisance to any attempt to truly rest.

When we rest, we do so in memory of rest denied. We receive what has been withheld from ourselves and our ancestors. And our present respite draws us into a remembrance of those who were not permitted it.

So one day, when you look down and you’re wearing your own veins on the outside like a lace dress and everything is tender and everything hurts, wait out the shadow of despair. Do not force down poisoned fruit. Repair is after you, a seamstress in flight to your splitting parts.

Anytime I need to be born again, she says, I just go back to Harlem.

Wonder includes the capacity to be in awe of humanity, even your own. It allows us to jettison the dangerous belief that things worthy of wonder can only be located on nature hikes and scenic overlooks. This can distract us from the beauty flowing through us daily. For every second that our organs and bones sustain us is a miracle. When those bones

Place has always been the thing that made us. We cannot escape being formed by it.

Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. T

In pursuit of liberation, we do not need to pine after the power of our oppressor; we have to long for our own power to be fully realized. We don’t want to steal and dominate someone else’s land; we want agency in reclaiming and establishing our own spaces. We don’t want to silence the voices of our enemies; we want to be able to safely center our