So good. Mmmm. This made me think deeply as I teach my Black sons (and daughter) about their bodies. We are in the season of puberty and swift change. I don’t want to reside them with the insecurities and complexes I am still navigating around bodies as I was taught growing up in church. That is not the lasting legacy I want to leave with them.
Robert, this musing hit like scripture that never made it into the canon. Not the polished kind meant to keep us in pews, but the raw kind that holds you while you learn to hold yourself.
The way you write about the body—as memory, as miracle, as meeting place—feels like a kind of liturgy the church forgot how to say. You made space for tenderness where most systems only make room for sacrifice.
And that Baby Suggs quote? I felt it in my ribs. Flesh that needs to be loved. Yes. Not performed, not punished, not preached about from a safe distance. Loved.
Thank you for letting us witness your joy too. May those straight A’s be just the beginning of everything your body already knew you were capable of.
There are so many viewpoints about body image. Sometimes they are shamed but other times they are objectified. We have to find the space where we remember we are created in the image of God and that we aren't bad but sometimes we don't make the best choices with our bodies. Thank you for the reminder to appreciate our bodies.
My kid's mom, Black, passed when he was 4. His white dad (passed 8 years later) adored them both. But he was left without an example, a mirror of his own image. He's been my kid for 19 years, and we are obviously white, so I tell strangers he's my grandson (the stories they make up!). People project onto him, think him homeless when waiting for a ride. Judge him because he is short-ish. They don't suspect the creative genius he holds, even reveals, to their surprise. He is strong in all ways. And will figure it out. I'm sharing this piece with him. He'll get it. Thank you. Cynthia (PDR's mom-type person)
Congratulations on finishing your classes on this ultimate degree. Blessings as you go into writing!! Thanks for this writing. So good to hear your musings. May they heal your heart and help me and other white folks understand the healing process from your eyes and pen.
Congratulations!! Yeah!!! Thank you for sharing your good news on the last of your classes! You are continuing to become yourself, and that is a beautiful thing indeed. 😻🙏
Important and beautiful, brother.
Thank you!
So good. Mmmm. This made me think deeply as I teach my Black sons (and daughter) about their bodies. We are in the season of puberty and swift change. I don’t want to reside them with the insecurities and complexes I am still navigating around bodies as I was taught growing up in church. That is not the lasting legacy I want to leave with them.
Congratulations🥳 💕
Congratulations!!
Robert, this musing hit like scripture that never made it into the canon. Not the polished kind meant to keep us in pews, but the raw kind that holds you while you learn to hold yourself.
The way you write about the body—as memory, as miracle, as meeting place—feels like a kind of liturgy the church forgot how to say. You made space for tenderness where most systems only make room for sacrifice.
And that Baby Suggs quote? I felt it in my ribs. Flesh that needs to be loved. Yes. Not performed, not punished, not preached about from a safe distance. Loved.
Thank you for letting us witness your joy too. May those straight A’s be just the beginning of everything your body already knew you were capable of.
With quiet awe and a side of irreverent blessing,
Reading this after doing my morning mobility routine 🥰
Also, congrats on straight As bro!
Bro you inspire me
That's how I feel every time I get a voice note from you on the way from the gym lol
There are so many viewpoints about body image. Sometimes they are shamed but other times they are objectified. We have to find the space where we remember we are created in the image of God and that we aren't bad but sometimes we don't make the best choices with our bodies. Thank you for the reminder to appreciate our bodies.
My kid's mom, Black, passed when he was 4. His white dad (passed 8 years later) adored them both. But he was left without an example, a mirror of his own image. He's been my kid for 19 years, and we are obviously white, so I tell strangers he's my grandson (the stories they make up!). People project onto him, think him homeless when waiting for a ride. Judge him because he is short-ish. They don't suspect the creative genius he holds, even reveals, to their surprise. He is strong in all ways. And will figure it out. I'm sharing this piece with him. He'll get it. Thank you. Cynthia (PDR's mom-type person)
Congratulations on finishing your classes on this ultimate degree. Blessings as you go into writing!! Thanks for this writing. So good to hear your musings. May they heal your heart and help me and other white folks understand the healing process from your eyes and pen.
Congratulations!
Congratulations!! Yeah!!! Thank you for sharing your good news on the last of your classes! You are continuing to become yourself, and that is a beautiful thing indeed. 😻🙏
HUGE CONGRATS! ;-)
(I, too, well know the "Last Class" ("This is my Last Dance!!) feeling! ;-) I just got my MFA (the terminal degree in Film & TV).
WHO HOO!
Good for you, my friend! ;-)
Celebrate!