Good afternoon, loves, and welcome back to Lioness Tales. Thanks to those of you who have subscribed, thanks to those of you who visit with me every week, and welcome to those of you who are here for the first time. Now, today, we’re gonna do something just a little bit different—usually, I read a piece (an essay or a short story) that’s been published elsewhere, or something that I’ve prepared for the Substack. But today, I’m feeling a little reflective. So I’m just gonna speak and tell you what’s on my heart. So hopefully y’all will still hang out. And of course I’ll transcribe whatever I say in this video, so if you choose to read it later, it will be available.
Other than that, same rules as always apply. So my dogs aren’t here today, but you may hear them barking downstairs. You may hear my neighbors outside. But no matter what happens, we’re just gonna go with it because that’s what we do here.
So for those of you who have been following me, or maybe you’re here because you know—I have a book coming out on January 10, 2023 called Moonrise Over New Jessup. I’ve been really blessed over this year of highs and lows on this roller coaster ride we call life—I’ve been really blessed over this last few months to be getting some really great, positive reception of the book from early readers, from my family, and friends.
The other day, I received a really cool piece of information—a really cool accolade—and I passed it along to my cousin. My cousin is an elder statesman in my family, and he loves to “baby cousin” me, and so I passed this piece of information along. I said,
“Hey, Cuz! Did you see?”
He sat on the phone—he was sort of was cool about it—and he said,
“Oh yeah. I saw it. That’s cool. Maybe now, I’ll have to start bragging on you.”
I decided, since I’m grown, that I was gonna raise up on my cousin a little bit, so I said,
“You’re only now gonna start bragging on me?”
And my cousin—somewhere along the spectrum between lecturing and teasing—said,
“Listen—all this you’re doing? With your book? Raising up our community? You’re a Young. That’s what you’re supposed to be doing.”
My cousin, in that one sentiment, summed up why I’m excited. I’ve been getting a lot of DMs, a lot of emails, and messages—really great messages saying,
“You have a book coming out! Aren’t you excited?”
My cousin, in that one sentiment, summed up why I’m excited:
Yes, I am excited. Because a woman like Alice Young—a Black woman from Alabama—is centered on the pages of this book. I’m excited because a Black community is centered on the pages of this book. I’m excited because Black towns, settlements, quarters, bottoms, cities are centered in this book. I’m excited to invite people into New Jessup, Alabama through the eyes of Alice Young.
When I think about what community means—because this is a book about community—and when I think about how important community has always been in my life, I like to think of community as being part of something larger than myself. I’ve been really blessed to be embraced not just by my family—who has always fortified and ridden with me—but by this community of writers, bookstagrammers, bloggers, and all these people who want to see me shine. And I feel really embraced by a community, which has always meant the world to me.
To me, community is like being part of an ocean. There may be a splash, but that water from the splash comes up, and goes right back down. It’s going back into something that’s larger than itself. It’s part of something larger than itself.
So I’m excited because I’m talking about, and raising up, our community. I appreciate, and I’m thankful for all the new friends and family that I’ve made over the course of this year. I’m feeling very reflective in 2022, and I’m choosing to reflect on my blessings. That’s really a huge part of why I’m thankful and why I’m excited.
I’m looking forward to getting out in 2023 and meeting more of you to talk more about Alice and New Jessup and community. I thank y’all for being with me this year, for hanging out with me this year, for giving Lioness Tales a chance. I hope I get to meet, and have fellowship, with so many of you, in the months coming up. Until then, until 2023, I’m signing off. I look forward to visiting with you in the new year.
xo,
Jamila
Reflections on Community