As I sit here writing this, it seems fairly obvious that this was coming. I started my blog several years ago, and it’s been a bit ‘stop-and-go, uphill-downhill’. Not because I don’t have things to say–I always have things to say. But I started this blog as a way to write about my activism. That turned out to be incredibly difficult. I was tired all the time. I would take long breaks from the writing, and as the world continued to turn upside down, I started taking long breaks from “the work.” I’ve always maintained that there is a place in the work for everyone. I never claimed to know what my place was. I still don’t know. What I do know is that the more I write, the more I realize that what comes easiest is if I tell my story. Which, in a way, is what I’ve always done. I’ve just been reluctant to frame it that way. It seems a bit self-interested to say I’m going to talk about myself, but really, I’m the only person I’m authorized to speak for.

There won’t be sweeping changes in the content I post, but I won’t be trying to frame my words inside of some larger context. Everything might not have an overt message of resistance and that’s okay. I guess the biggest thing changing is me. My blog title won’t change. Largely because it will never cease to be true. I don’t get to wake up in the morning and not be black. And everything I see in life I see through the lens of a Black Woman raised in the South. I’m overweight. I’m anxious. I’m a preacher’s kid. I check more than a couple of those pesky proverbial boxes. Though because of, and sometimes in spite of all these qualifiers, I’ve continued to grow. So why shouldn’t my blog? I’m about halfway through law school and it’s proved challenging, but I got through it. I took a year to adjust and find my footing, but I’m ready to get back to doing the work I’m committed to and living an intentional life. I’ll have a lot to say along the way–here’s hoping you join me for the ride.

Yours in activism,

Karli Janay