i. who taught you to feel good?

octavia's brood

"the first was octavia's brood: science fiction from social justice movements, in which I worked with Walidah Imarisha to gather visionary fiction in the lineage of butler's protagonists displayed, finding models in complex science and the natural world." 21

emergent strategy

"the second book was emergent strategy: shaping change, changing worlds, in which a lot of my comrades and i explored the adaptive, relational leadership that so many of butler's protagonists displayed, finding models in complex science and the natural world." 21

toni cade bambara

"which brings us to toni cade bambara. she taught us many things, but i keep coming back to her task to writers/artists to "make the revolution irresistible." 24

audre lorde project

"for the years that i was dreaming and writing this book, cara was executive director of the audre lorde project." 37

cara page

"cara page is striking human being. she's quite tall, her smile is bright, her eyes look like they miss nothing, and when she speaks her voice is mountains and dark liquor" 37

love as political resistance

"we need to learn how to practice love such that care--for ourselves and others--is understood as political resistance and cultivating resilience." 59

bloodchild

"bloodchild short story collection, male bodies are impregnated and then completely reliant on their alien masters to remove the baby because there's no other way for it to leave the body."55

parable of the sower

"in parable of the sower, olamina is not yet twenty when meets and falls into a sexual and romantic relationship with Bankole, who is in his sixties." 55

fledgling

"then there's shori, in fledgling, who is an ancient being in a body that looks like a young girl, with lovers of all ages and backgrounds." 55

alexis pauline gumbs

"this essay of love is exactly what i expected from magical sister doula-witch teacher alexis pauline gumbs. alexis is one of the most consistent yeses I know, her life full of rest, love, beauty and travel." 65

joan morgan

"to round out the lineage, i am including two pieces on pleasure philosophy. the first is a piece on pleasure politics from joan morgan." 24

ingrid lafleur

"detroiter ingrid lafleur is the founder of maison lafeur and afrotopia. fashionista, artist, and most likely to make bank on bitcoin, she ran for mayor of detroit in 2017 as an afrofuturists candidate." 99