Wildcats, this wolf would be lost without her pack. Michael D. Collins Jr., Naliaka M. Wakhisi, Uchenna T. Moka-Solana and Wole D. Solana, Ama M. Appenteng-Milam and Jonathan D. Milam, Dr. Jason A. Okonofua, Mónica Guevara Del Bosque, Camille E. Trummer and Daniel Yeguezou, C. Russel Price, Pauline R. Eckholt, Lisa E. Weiss, Christopher J. Williams, Pascale J. Bishop, Caroline E. Fourmy, and Dr. Kiran Kilaru—we made fire in that Chicago cold, didn’t we? With nothing but the love of each other, we made a spark up in that darkness. Watched it explode over Lake Michigan.
Law school mates Johanna Ojo Tran, Mary K. Volk, Jennifer Rexroat Lavin, and Laura B. Homan. Y’all have taught me that sisterhood comes in many colors, in the most unexpected of places.
Brooke A. Fearnley and Elizabeth M. Sampson. Oh ladies, y’all have lit a fire in a hearth in my heart that I’m certain will never die out. Simply put, we are sisters. Stay out of the woods. Love that man of yours. Stay sexy and don’t get murdered. Call me always.
Hair is as much a part of this novel as music is. So I must acknowledge my lifelong hair stylists for simply making me feel beautiful. All my life. Ms. Vivian Hunt of Harvey, Illinois, and Ms. Adrienne Hughes and Ms. Angela Caster of Memphis, Tennessee, I thank and love y’all.
All the flowers to the following female artists who kept my spirits high, who reminded me of the pride that comes with Blackness, who kept me writing: CHIKA, Ashian, Latto, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Ella Mai, Corinne Bailey Rae, SZA, Lizzo, Noname, Mara Hruby, Chloe x Halle, Mary J. Blige, Marlena Shaw, Roberta Flack, Monica, Lady Leshurr, Rico Nasty, Alice Smith, Big Bottle Wyanna, Beyoncé, and, of course, Ms. Anita Baker.
I’d also like to thank a few actors. Cinema, more than anything, inspired me during the writing of this novel. A few performances over the past years have simply floored me. And I drew upon the pathos of these dazzling performances in order to bring my own characters to life. I have never met these women, but I feel as if I am beholden. I could write a million poems to Niecy Nash, Janet Hubert, Dominique Fishback, Viola Davis, Aunjanue Ellis, Karen Aldridge, Taraji P. Henson, Lupita Nyong’o, Radha Blank, Shakira Ja’nai Paye, Bria Samoné Henderson, Wunmi Mosaku, Cynthia Erivo, Regina King, Whoopi Goldberg, Jada Harris, Angela Bassett, Natasha Rothwell, Kayla Nicole Jones, and, once again, Mary J. Blige.
It is difficult for me to pen how extraordinary it can be for a Black woman to sit alone with her thoughts in public without being accosted or heckled or told to go back to Africa, or to pay the bill upfront, or that she looks exotic, or to smile more, or to keep it down, or to hurry up and eat, or to remove herself as quickly as possible so that the white man at the bar can sit. So. I’d like to thank the following restaurants, all over this world, that treated me with some dignity while I wrote this book. I wish more American establishments were on this list, but alas, my country has a very long way to go in learning how to treat Black women little better than dogs. Grazie mille ai questi ristoranti:
Chef Bahía, Matanzas, Cuba
Ranchón El Valle, Monserrate, Cuba
Calypso Relax, Bocale, Italy
Casa del Popolo, Fiesole, Italy
Terrazza 45, Fiesole, Italy
Vinandro （Vino e Desco Molle）， Fiesole, Italy The Bourgeois Pig, Chicago, IL
Schwa, Chicago, IL
Steadfast （at the Gray Hotel）， Chicago, IL
La Canasta, Alhaurín de la Torre, Spain Restaurante Casa Sardina, Alhaurín el Grande, Spain La Bodeguita, Alhaurín el Grande, Spain El Tapeo del Soho, Malaga, Spain
Billy’s Seafood, Kill Devil Hills, NC
The SaltBox Café, Kill Devil Hills, NC
The LINE Hotel, Los Angeles and Washington, DC
Bidwell Restaurant, Washington, DC
Cozy Corner, Memphis, TN
Local on the Square, Memphis, TN
Porch and Parlor, Memphis, TN
Lastly, I’m quite certain that I wrote every single word of this, that I placed every single punctuation mark on the page, for my kids, for my tenth-grade English students at White Station High School in Memphis, Tennessee, and KIPP DC College Preparatory in Washington, DC. Read, my loves. Read. Read. Read.
And write.
—THE AUTHOR
About the Author
Poet, former attorney, Northwestern University MFA graduate, and semifinalist for a Fulbright Fellowship, Tara M. Stringfellow has written for Collective Unrest, Minerva Rising, Jet Fuel Review, WomenArts Quarterly Journal, and Apogee Journal, among other publications. After having lived in Okinawa, Ghana, Chicago, Cuba, Spain, Italy, and Washington, DC, she moved back home to Memphis, where she sits on her porch swing every evening, with her hound, Huckleberry, listening to records and chatting with neighbors.
tarastringfellow.com
Instagram: @tarastringfellow