In this entry, we join writer Mariam I. Williams as details the birth of her new workshop series. You can register for the class and learn more here.
As a literary nonfiction writer, poet, and dancer with academic research interests and graduate education in Pan African Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and history, I see my art forms as powerful tools for exploring how the political, historical, and cultural affect the personal. My work strives to do for others what centuries of black women writing, choreographing, and performing literature and dances of the African diaspora have done for me: reveal black humanity, give dimensionality to Black womanhood, and provide new ways of thinking, healing, and being for all people.
I believe that for Black women, self-love in a world that upholds white supremacy, anti-blackness, and misogyny is one of the most subversive acts we can commit to. I believe we will find liberation for ourselves and our communities through radical self-love because it reminds us we are worthy of freedom, just as we are.
Self-love begins with self-knowledge, and individuals can unearth self-knowledge by writing about the self and by listening to the wisdom and truths the body holds. That’s why my workshops range from introspective writing to dancing for performance, why my signature program combines writing and dance, and why my programs are as valuable for writers and dancers as they are for people who don’t consider themselves to be either one.
A literature and writing workshop with me is often about unearthing what’s beneath the surface. I always say I write not because I have answers, but because I want to find them. I know the curiosity many of us grew up thinking would kill us will actually set us free, so I ask workshop participants to explore introspective questions and to be brave when doing so, to continue even when what’s revealed in their writing surprises, challenges, or frightens them. I also ask participants to read texts they may have read or been assigned before, but to consider how and why a particular text speaks to them (or doesn’t). Within these investigations of lived experience, themes including self-love, sisterhood, body positivity, identity, and anger come to light, and workshop participants are able to see the effects history and larger systems have had and continue to have on their lives.
In 2019, I founded the Black Womanhood (Re-)Affirmation Project [WRAP] so that I could develop and teach a literature and dance curriculum that centers adult black women and our liberation, amplifies our stories, and builds on the existing sisterhood and community among us. The Black WRAP is a course and workshop series that builds radical self-love in and affirms the resilience of Black women, women of color, and other participants utilizing literature, writing, and dance that center Black women’s experiences.
As part of Black WRAP, Liberation Through Literature: Black Women Writing for Self-Knowledge and Self-Love invites you to unlearn the self-hate that misogyny and anti-blackness can produce and to build your toolbox for healing. We’ll honor our black female ancestors, read texts by legends like Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, and hear from newer folks like Tressie McMillan-Cottom and ourselves. Liberation Through Literature is a writing workshop, but I’ll encourage the use of literary devices and revision only as it serves to clarify your lived experience to you. I’ll set aside time for those who are willing to read their work out loud so we can recognize common experiences, increase our confidence, diminish shame, and build community—just like a long history of black women writers has done for us.
Mariam I. Williams is a writer, dancer, arts educator, and public historian whose work aims to affirm black womanhood and to present the true stories of underserved communities whose narratives have historically faced erasure. An alumna of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, Williams also holds an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in public history from Rutgers University-Camden. In the spring of 2019, she launched the Black Womanhood (Re-) Affirmation Project, an online course series that uses black women's literature, introspective writing, and dance to help black women pursue spiritually, emotionally, and physically healthier lives. Prior to launching this project, she facilitated in-school creative writing programs through The ArtWell and Rutgers Early College Education (REaCH) Program and also taught literature at Delaware College of Art and Design. Williams is currently writing a memoir about growing up in Kentucky with black radical parents, a churchgoing extended family, and a Christian sisterhood. Her work can be found in Women's Review of Books; on Salon.com; on Longreads.com; and on her website, mariamwilliams.com.