““This book is a heartbreaking Claudia-Rankine inspired version that retells the reality of loss, survival and living as a black woman/person in the U.S, and especially in our current political times. The poems, the essays, the words are breathtaking journeys into microagressions, privilege, shedding light onto the lack of resources and support and failed system that a black person has to try to successfully live in (such as the deprivation of mental health resources, holding the line with our boyfriend while he’s in the car, always thinking about what will happen next when a police comes to stop him— these are just two examples out of the many mentioned in this book), and how the black community continues to survive despite their small blackbird-trapped deaths every day.

It has been a true honor to read such a powerful book, written by an even stronger/more powerful woman.””