Black History Bootcamp. S7. Day 8.
Pleasure Principle 8
Speak Your Truth
Pleasure Muse: Toni Cade Bambara
Tantalizing Trivia
Born Miltona Mirkin Cade, this author, activist, and professor changed her name to Toni at the age of 6. She then added Bambara to honor the West African ethnic group, Bambara.
Her anthology, “Black Woman,” was the first feminist collection to focus on Black women. It included works from her friends Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde, and Alice Walker.
After the success of her two fiction books, Gorilla My Love and The Salt Eaters, she became a filmmaker, covering topics like the Philadelphia MOVE Bombing and the disappearance of over 40 children in Atlanta.
She believed strongly in clairvoyance, dream analysis, telepathy, and ancestral healing, and wrote about those themes in most of her work.
After she died at 56 from colon cancer. Toni Morrison posthumously edited and published her last book, Deep Sightings, and Rescue Missions.
Mirror Work: Do a two-minute free write, completing the sentence, “The truth is, I…” There’s no right or wrong. Just let your truth, about whatever comes from your spirit, flow onto the paper. Now look at yourself in the mirror as you read it out loud. “The Truth is I…” Repeat three times. Look at yourself while you speak and honor the courage that it takes to face our truths head-on.
Speak Your Truth: A Playlist
Self-Care Shopping List: Pick up The Salt Eaters for yourself and Gorilla My Love for your pre-teen or teen to read this Summer.
“The dream is real my friend, it’s the failure to realize it that’s the unreality.” - Toni Cade Bambara
Meet us in the Streets: Grab your earbuds, put on your sneakers, and join co-founders Morgan and Vanessa for Black History Bootcamp, a walking podcast powered by GirlTrek. We can’t wait to talk…
Catch up on Spotify podcasts.
Episodes are available after 48 hours.
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