I write as an urban, southern Black woman, specifically a native Atlantan, writing about southern Black life and its diaspora. As a womanist artist minister, healing, family, life, learning and love are constant themes in my work. Writing to heal is writing an expanded narrative of lives to eradicate stereotypes. Writing to heal addresses the complexity of race, gender, religion and socioeconomics that aren’t linear. For example, there isn’t the story about the poor African American girl who gets invited to the debutant ball, or the preacher woman who also practices conjure (and this is seen as natural). These narratives allow people to understand how a me exists and how I walk in my own shoes.

My plays generally examine seeking and a longing, leading to a greater self-awareness for my characters. I write for the senses what my characters see, taste, feel, know, understand. My inspiration is love (in all forms), traveling to important places in the African diaspora, and experiences like relocation, trauma or disruptions that cause us to refine our lives. I write the Southern girl who goes north and willingly comes back to the south because it is home. More than anything, I write about the search of self and how that search can also heal communities.

I write through the lens of ritual: patterns, systems, dedication, and faith. My work curiously investigates what it means to have order and what happens when order falls apart. I incorporate found language—words I hear on the street—cadences in voices and rhythms of everyday people. I write the girl who loses but keeps playing the game anyway. I infuse music, dance, art and other forms as that is the way of life. Come journey with; perhaps you will find the boldness to heal yourself, too.