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Mar 16, 2023Liked by Marla Taviano

That we are made beautiful by irritation & annoyance. For Black women, our Beauty has been made in our survival of toxic, misogynistic, ⚪️supremist, colonized environments. Environments, where like the Pearl that develops inside the oyster, we were brought into that environment & then had to figure out how to survive & persevere inspite of the irritation & annoyance[which translates to torture, death & any number of malicious acts perpetrated on Black folks in general/Black women specifically]

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Mar 16, 2023Liked by Marla Taviano

We just watched a video about nacre in 5th grade science! It's by TED ED (How pearls are made). Well done and interesting. Something beautiful from a form of self-defense.

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And your Substance is a year old - wow! I know I was reading it from the start, and I think that's one reason why your book came to mind when the FB conversation that prompted me to write Cool Church came up some weeks later.

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I like this reclamation of the pearl metaphor being one of inner strength and protection! Way too often, I saw the church use this metaphor as an encouragement to "tough it out" through abuse. Thanks again for reclaiming this lovely image!

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