THE RECONNECTION EDITION

Staying connected with ourselves and all the things can be a joy and a challenge. Sometimes, we are tempted to totally dis/connect, in order to protect our hearts from painful memories and feelings. Let our writers in this issue inspire you to stay in the game—for self, family, community and culture.

In this season, we are looking forward to Juneteenth. At KIZA, Juneteenth is Reconnection Day, a reminder to abide in the spirit of Juneteenth—reconnecting with our history and reclaiming our own definitions of freedom and how to live it.

In this edition of KIZA BlackLit, our writers power through both beautiful and painful memories to explore what it means to stay connected with feelings, visions, creativity, community, the land and much more.

• Poet Khemistry Williams (“Double Strand Helix”) and nonfiction writer Karim Allah Sharif (Power Beyond the Grave) share the struggle of finding self, amidst the agony of unrequited maternal love.

• Poet Kheneil Black’s “Weathered Veins of Gold” describes the storms of unfulfilled romance, as he heals his “kitsugi heart” and learns to honor the breaks, while practicing the art of appreciating who he has become.

• In “How I Got Over,” short story writer LN Lewis delights us with a solid and humorous account that follows her heroine as she lets go of anger that she nourished for over 30 years.

• Feeding community while forging wholesome connections with the land inspired K. Rashid Nuri to found Atlanta’s premier urban farm, Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture. His book, Growing Out Loud: Journey of a Food Revolutionary, reveals the why and how of creating self-sufficiency, beauty and health by reconnecting with how to feed ourselves.

• Storyteller Gloria Elder reconnects with family and the tender love of grandparents in “I Walked a Mile in Her Shoes” and “Big Papa’s Stories.”

• In “The Jackal and the Dog,” Storyteller Chetter Galloway brings us full circle, to examining what it means to live free. This is a perfect story to reflect upon as we consider how we advance the recognition of Juneteenth.

Contributing articles from the publishing world bring us ways to reconnect with our love for writing, Black food culture and reading books that inspire, enlighten and thrill. Be sure to read “For the Love of Literature: Culinary Connections,” by Khadija Pounsel; “New Book Releases: Connecting with Values,” by Shaundale Rénā and “Spring Forward: Reignite Your Writing Passion,” by Eryka Parker.

Thank you for joining us for the second edition of KIZA BlackLit, where we are diving into the joy of creating and maintaining lasting connections within the Black ACE: the thriving Black Arts, Culture & Entertainment ecosystem.