The weekend was weekending! I love going to Buffalo. I used to be there mostly for poetry. Nowadays, I go there for the zine fest. Not going to lie, last year was disappointing monetarily although we (me and Robert of course!) met and saw great people. This year was a lot more of both! Robert and I shared our vendor table with a zinester named Melissa who shared a wonderfully calming piece of driftwood, some ripe watermelon and a couple awesome politically satirical zines with me. I picked up some cool finds (some free) and saw old poet friends. We reminisced over poetry slams in Buffalo and the demise of the National Poetry Slam when Poetry Slam Inc. fell apart. I saw some folks I saw last year including a woman I got a handmade blank page journal from with a crow filled cover and I met lots of new people, folks with quirky earrings, vintage t-shirts and free spirits. There was even someone selling creative work on floppy disks! There really isn’t anything we can’t repurpose and create.

I always leave these kinds of events bubbling with creative ideas for my own work. Last week, I decided on a show that I want to debut a year from now. It’s tentatively called “Red Leaf Tree in Summer” after a poem I wrote by the same title but it’ll explore Ida B. Wells work as a foundation for new visual and written work. Yesterday, before leaving Buffalo, Robert and I visited a used bookstore called Burning Books and I found the last of an Ida B. Wells sticker buried near the bottom of a small basket. It felt like an affirmation to this work. Some of the best things come from the bottom where no one is looking. People often talk about the way I manifest things. I start by saying yes and seeing what happens. The rest is showing up and doing the work.

This week, I’m figuring out the design for an upcoming mural. I shared some of my brainstorming on Patreon the other day. The ideas have changed a little since then. I’ll be spending my evening sketching out my ideas. I’m excited to leave my imprint on a 50 foot wall in my neighborhood. I’m nervous but I’m trusting the art I have inside me and the inspiration around me to lead my pencil. Today, the breeze blew steady past. I saw a turtle holding on to a log on the bank of the Hudson River. A man fished for nothing in particular. I gave myself a childhood gift and swung my legs back and forth on a swing, letting out a weeeeee on the way down. I didn’t know I needed that. When I looked down at the ground, I found a single black feather. It’s amazing what little signs show up once my spirit says yes to itself. Yesterday, I got a pin that says, “I want to make beautiful things even if no one cares.” That’s where I want to start always. The art I make if no one is looking but me. How free. How authentic. How beautiful.

In this newsletter: The Write Situation, Open Studio, Upcoming festivals, What We Carry performance, Quote of the Week

What’s Happening?

Come write with me and the writing circle any Tuesday evening! We meet up from 7 pm - 9:00 pm to connect, write together and share our thoughts about new work and ongoing writing projects. If you’ve been meaning to write but haven’t found dedicated time, this may be for you. Hope to see you there!

Next Open Studio this month on Friday, August, 28th from 5 pm-8 pm! Come see what new art I’m making and enjoy a reading of new poems at 7 pm! Free to attend!

Also, an opportunity to support The Rev Art Studio (Robert and me), see what we’re up to and what we have for sale! Proceeds will go towards keeping our studio space.

Coming up in September

I’ll be featuring at Busboys & Poets in Washington D.C. on September 7th and 9th!

Excited to share poems on stage again there! It’s been a while. If you know anyone in the area, let them know to check me out on those dates. Stay tuned for more details.

The Rev will be at the 20/20 Photo Festival in Philadelphia at the Cherry Street Pier on September 12th and at Fall Art in the Park in Saratoga Springs on September 28th! Also, an opportunity to support The Rev Art Studio (Robert and me), see what we’re up to and what we have for sale! Proceeds will go towards keeping our studio space.

“WHAT WE CARRY” is the inaugural concert of the Barnhill Movement Collective (BMC), a contemporary and physical theatre dance company rooted in New York’s Capital Region and founded by award-winning choreographer and director Hettie Barnhill under Create A Space NOW. I’ll be debuting a new poem performed to dancing at this show!

This evening-length performance explores the visible and invisible weight we carry as individuals and as a society. Through physically driven choreography, ensemble-based storytelling, and interdisciplinary design elements, the work examines themes of identity, power, labor, democracy, anxiety, resilience, and responsibility. Each piece reflects how history, systems, relationships, and lived experiences reside in the body.

Comprised of artists who work, live, train, teach, and create within the Capital Region, BMC is committed to strengthening the local cultural ecosystem through bold, socially engaged performance. Blending contemporary dance with physical theatre, the company moves between intimacy and urgency, stillness and momentum, asking what we inherit, what we endure, and what we choose to hold, release, or transform.

Get Tickets!

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” -Ida B. Wells

Where do you put your joy? How much room does it have? How long does it get to stay? I spent the week negotiating with joy, with rest, with peace of mind. Yesterday, Robert and I hopped in the car after tabling outside our art studio during the farmer’s market and drove out to Brattleboro, VT with no specific plans and no idea if anything would be open. A few people wished me a happy 4th during the day and all I could think of each time was Frederick Douglass saying “The 4th of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice. I must mourn.” It’s definitely a holiday with layered emotion attached to it for me. There’s no question there’s significance in reaching 250 years but when a hailstorm makes Mount Rushmore cry, I think it’s safe to say, even Mother Nature is outraged.

Summer showed up for July, that’s for sure and that’s not all we endured with the heat. I read so many racist comments this week, from the Islamophobic comment made by Taste of Italy in Latham in response to the tragic death of Harbe Nagi to a thread I found myself on with dozens of xenophobic stereotypes and comments against Haitians existing in this country. This morning I read a thread of comments calling teens ‘animals’ and naming low income status as a reason to have police at the now open pool in my neck of Troy. Language is powerful. It’s unfortunate so much of it is used for tearing people down, denying people’s humanity and spreading hate.

Still on our way back from a day of spontaneity, on a road without street lights, fireworks lit up the sky and I thought of joy. The way it pierces through and lights up everything even for a moment. We’d stopped by Putney on the way back to see if some old artist friends were home. They were! We shared hugs, tea and updates. I got asked first about what good has happened in my life and I spilled out about poetry, becoming a poet laureate, and my recent experience at Cave Canem. Joy doesn’t mean we ignore the pain, stress and worry of the day. I think sometimes joy like inspiration happens to us but we can be intentional about experiencing it and spreading it. This week, I start working with young people at the Underground Railroad Education Center. We’ll be exploring poetry for six weeks. I hope they walk away with a deeper sense of their agency with language.

Let us be deliberate and audacious with joy, with love, with the best parts of us in the face of calamity and chaos remembering the future we make is not only our own.

A Poem for Harbe Nagi

Sweet boy

I’m sorry the water would not give

you back, how it reminds us

sometimes we can go unseen

even when searched for.

Everyone wants to blame

somebody, even

themselves when the world

breaks but who wants to hold

sadness long enough to shake

out something beautiful?

Too soon, sweetness, too soon

I don’t know all the ways grief

works but too soon always weighs

heavier than a long time.

May the love you left behind

win over hate, over sorrow

over knots twisting in throats

over ignorance, over lost wishes

over smoke clearing slow

Some might say that’s too much

for a child to carry but you’re so

big now. You’re so big.

You’re so big.

In this newsletter: Summer Art Festival, Detroit Book Festival, Metroland Article, The Write Situation, Troy Night Out with Rev Art Studio, Quote of the Week

What’s Happening?

I’m excited for Albany Center Gallery’s 2nd Annual Summer Art Festival! Join us on July 18th from 12 pm - 5 pm for live art, music and vendors including myself! The next day, Robert and I will be off to Detroit for their book festival so it’ll be a full weekend on my end!

The Detroit Festival of Books is the largest book festival in the State of Michigan and I’ll be there this month with Robert! If you’re in the Detroit area, come check us out on July 19th from 10 am - 4 pm.

Learn More

PREVIEW: D. Colin to be named Poet Laureate by the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region - METROLAND NOW

06/25 @ Hart Cluett Museum, Troy D. Colin is a storyteller and creative in every sense of those words. Poet, visual artist, educator, curator, performer, activist, and the list goes on. And yes, all of that is true, but to describe Colin by listing what she does almost feels like missing the point.

Come write with me and the writing circle any Tuesday evening! We meet up between 7 pm - 9:30 pm to connect, write together and share our thoughts about new work and ongoing writing projects. If you’ve been meaning to write but haven’t found dedicated time, this may be for you. Hope to see you there!

Our next Open Studio and shop update will be on July 31st for this month’s Troy Night Out. Come through between 6 pm - 8:30 pm to support the studio, see new art and chat it up with us. Can’t attend any of the in-person vending events? Check out The Rev online!

“I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” - Audre Lorde

June had just started when I wrote you last and now the month is rounding out. So much has happened. If you’ve been following my social media, then you know. But to recap: I went to the Three Rivers Arts Festival with Robert. The sun was shining one minute and then a Dorothy going to see the wizard level storm hit like a Joe Frasier knockout punch and left our tent and much of our merch in shambles. We were only 2.5 hours into what would have been four days of vending, made $15 and just like that we were in the hole thousands of dollars. We missed Friday, returned on Saturday and packed up early on Sunday to avoid another storm. Our nerves couldn’t take twice in one weekend. The silver lining is all the people who gave to my Cash App or Venmo. I’m so grateful for all the messages and generosity. All in all the festival and especially that storm cost us $4196.90 but some sales and mostly community donations made that number come down to $1362.90. Trust me when I say thank you is insufficient.

Last week, I came back from Pittsburgh Sunday exhausted, taught a workshop at Skidmore College on Monday, packed up and drove to Greensburg, PA on Wednesday for Cave Canem’s 30th Anniversary. To go from a traumatic weekend to a joyful one...I mean the kind of joy that makes you forget whatever’s back at home waiting for you, the kind made for pinching skin to affirm it’s real. So many moments. Rita Dove reading a letter and a poem written to her by August Wilson as we all sat at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and the same award winning Rita Dove joining the fellowship for late night karaoke was not on my bingo card for this year. Every single one of the four days I spent in community with Black poets filled my spirit to the brim.

Sitting to chat with Raina J. Leon, Philadelphia’s Poet Laureate, taking a photo with Avery Young, Chicago’s Poet Laureate and sitting next to Rita Dove, former U.S. Poet Laureate, just before reading a brand new poem (to an audience sprinkled with folks who know I’m about to be a poet laureate so they shout it out for everyone to hear as I walk to the stage) are all moments I’m carrying with me this Thursday. I’m part of a rich legacy of Cave Canem poets. I can say without hesitation that Cave Canem is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me in my poetry journey not just because of the weight the name carries but because of the love, growth, and joy that I’ve experienced as a fellow.

I can think of no better way to walk into the week I become a poet laureate. Even when the storm hits, I am reminded that community has my back. When poetry life gets hard, I’m reminded by my poetry community how wonderful and how necessary we are. My spirit is so full of gratitude for all of you, for this work I get to do, for this life I feel honored to live.

In this newsletter: Poet Laureate Debut and Celebration, The Write Situation, BDA, Inc. Exhibit, d.colin.ized podcast, Shop The Rev Art Studio, Quote of the Week

What’s Happening?

Get Tickets!

The Write Situation is a writing circle for the poets, playwrights, memoirists, novelists and casual morning journalers ready to put pen to paper in community. Join me every Tuesday evening for dedicated writing time in an intentional space for inspiration, connection and productive creativity!

This space is for you if you’re looking for:

gentle accountability

structured time

writing inspiration

supportive discussion

a community of writers

How to support:

Join Patreon at any tier level for writing prompts and recorded workshops

Cashapp: $dcolinpoet

Venmo: @dcolinpoet

Donations help me keep up with supplies, snacks/refreshments and space costs.

How to participate in additional space:

Join The Write Situation group page on my website for free.

Hope to see you there or virtually! Give yourself the time to write it down and see where your imagination takes you!

Learn More about Black Dimensions in Art, Inc.

Listen to the latest episode of d.colin.ized! The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Substack for your listening convenvience.

Support and get bonus, exclusive and uncut episodes on Patreon!

This episode includes my poem “Native Tongue,” an homage to my first language, Haitian Creole.

Episode 4

Can’t attend any of the in-person vending events? Check out The Rev online!

“Trust the tickle.” -Rita Dove

To support the continuation of this podcast, please consider joining my Patreon or becoming a paid subscriber Substack.

You can listen to d.colin.ized on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Substack with bonus, exclusive and early episodes are posted for my Podcast Peeps on Patreon for $3/month.

Enjoy!

Yesterday, a check I’d been waiting on for two months finally arrived. I went to Kinderhook and Kingston to attend exhibit openings at Jack Shainman Gallery and at CPW. I left feeling as if my brain would burst from ideas. But that’s not the only place I found inspiration and hope this weekend. Two boys under the age of ten in different places at different times, happily held the door for Robert and I while entering or leaving a place. It was small but warm. Robert said there’s hope for the future and I agreed the children will lead the way.

On Friday, my goddaughter got married to the love of her life, a man who like her, I held as a baby and taught in Sunday School when they were children. Many years later, they found each other again. The groom’s father who was asked to pray over the food, seized the opportunity to also ask for grandchildren. Though there’s no rush, I look forward to the day I can hold one of their own babies. There were so many happy tears against the backdrop of a sunny day in Schoharie. I saw family and friends, I haven’t seen in years. I’d made mini centerpieces for the cocktail hour and I’ve come back to a studio today, with all the remnants of craft making scattered across my desk and floor.

Yesterday, Robert and I drove by a group of elders holding up signs warning against kings and other things. I thought about the abomination that is currently the White House lawn and an onslaught of other news. While looking for a bookstore, closed to our surprise, we stumbled across a small grocery cafe and sat outside drinking guava lemonade and iced tea. Despite how tired we were from having attended a wedding the day before, it was a day full of good energy.

Call it a weekend of good moods. I even found a feather on the grass though I have yet to determine what bird it’s from. And because I’ve been a Knicks fan since the sixth grade, you can imagine how I feel about a redo of the 1999 NBA Finals. I always felt Patrick Ewing deserved an honorary ring but things don’t work out like that. Instead, sometimes years later we get another opportunity to do it again, whatever it is. I already apologized to Robert for the way I’m about to act watching these games.

All this weekend, life was happening. Beautiful, vibrant, rich, unapologetic, inspiring life is happening everywhere. The kind of life we protect and cherish. There is love and joy to be had. Tomorrow, I start working with folks on writing poetry. Today’s the last day to sign up. Tuesday, I sit with the writing circle for our 10th week of just writing together. This Saturday, I’ll be tabling at Art on Lark. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be headed to Pittsburgh for the Three Rivers Arts Festival and Cave Canem, both things I’ve been working hard financially to get to all year. When I come back, I’ll be named Poet Laureate of the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region. It’s going to be a full month. But today, I am grateful for the mess of my workspace and all the things, second chances and people worth waiting for.

In this newsletter: Poet Laureate Celebration Invite, First Draft Workshop Registration, The Write Situation writing circle, BDA, Inc. Exhibit at Spring Street Gallery, Listen to my podcast, d.colin.ized, The Rev Art Studio, Support on Patreon, Quote of the Week

What’s Happening?

In the words of Lucille Clifton, “won’t you celebrate with me”?! I cannot wait to see you and share space for this special occasion. Make sure to save the date, June 25th and get your tickets early! Many, many thanks to the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region for this honor.

Reserve Tickets

First Draft: Virtual Poetry Workshop

We start tomorrow! Join me for five Mondays to define, write, revise and learn about poetry for yourself whether for your creative writing practice or personal writing curiosity! Let me know if you have any questions!

Details
When: Every Monday, June1st - June 29th
Time: 6 PM - 7 PM ET
Where: Virtual

Cost: $100 for the full series [pay over time options available]
Includes weekly workbooks, live attendance, replays, and personalized feedback.

Reserve Your Spot

We’re approaching week 10! It’s been wonderful to meet in community and get to know folks attending. Last week, there was eight of us writing together. I’m optimistic about growth and connecting with more folks as word spreads. The Write Situation is a writing circle for the poets, playwrights, memoirists, novelists and casual morning journalers ready to put pen to paper in community. Join me every Tuesday evening for dedicated writing time in an intentional space for inspiration, connection and productive creativity! Proceeds go towards supplies, refreshments and sustaining studio space at KBK Studios.

Check out Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. current exhibit, “Our Voices-Resilience: Strength, Persistence and Determination,” at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs. The show will be up until June 28th! Viewing hours are Wednesdays, 6 pm-8 pm and Saturdays/Sundays from 11 am-1 pm.

The Rev Art Studio, LLC is the joint venture between me and my hubby, Robert Cooper. We’re both artists doing what we can to create and make it in this world. If you’re looking for art to put on your walls or other merch, check out our website, therevartshop.com and if you’re in town for Art on Lark on June 6th in Albany, NY and the Three Rivers Arts Festival on June 11th-14th in Pittsburgh this June, stop by our tent!

Next episode drops Monday, June 1st!

The poem I share in this episode of d.colin.ized is called “Sacred Land” inspired by the history of Jean-Jacques Dessalines and the women who contributed to the Haitian Revolution. You can find and listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Substack for your convenience.

Listen

What’s on Patreon?

There’s a little something for everyone on Patreon...bonus episodes, writing prompts, digital downloads, etc. It’s been years in the making but I’m finally in a flow. If you can and want to, support ranges from $3-$100 and every dollar helps me continue holding space for people to be creative and curious including yourself.

Learn More

Quote for the week:

“come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.”

-Lucille Clifton

I’m writing a play called Censored as an exploration on what it means to be an artist engaged with the political landscape of our times. Despite my natural inclination towards hope, it’s often been a discouraging journey recently to interrogate the decrease in paid gigs, fewer opportunities to perform on stage and an increasing list of rejection for funding that I typically don’t have a problem getting. This past Wednesday, I went to the She Speaks: Women of Color Leadership Summit, held in response to overwhelming amounts of women with an emphasis on Black women specifically facing job loss. It was a powerful day of connecting with each other.

This year, I read an article in Forbes titled “Women Made Up Nearly All The Job Losses Last Month. Here’s Why” by Holly Corbett. One of the quotes that stood out to me on the urgency of this issue was “If we saw an unemployment rate for white men at the current rate it is for Black women, we would have already declared a recession,” says Jasmine Tucker, vice president for research at the National Women’s Law Center.”

I didn’t lose a federal job. I don’t even have a traditional employer. I’m a creative entrepreneur focused on intentional storytelling and healing spaces and if I’m being fully transparent, it doesn’t always translate to being able to pay bills nowadays. There are no numbers to reference and analyze for someone like me.

But it’s impossible to ignore the current political climate, employment crisis, the cuts in funding to organizations who would have and have booked me in the past, and disappearing words flagged by this current administration as “woke” including women, Black, immigrants, trauma and of course, DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion as part of the reason. What am I to do with my writing and art which explores identity, social issues and the human condition when even the word ‘belong’ is on that list? As we’ve seen with the swift mirroring by states and local municipalities to reflect the federal government’s chaos and Supreme Court’s rulings, we are all impacted whether we have data for it or not.

I spent the last few days in wildly nourishing spaces for my spirit. In a room full of beautiful women dripping excellence and righteous rage, reading poems at Spring Street Gallery for Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. with a warm, intimate audience full of gratitude and encouragement, and yesterday, performing in the stage reading of Aunt Pookie’s Girls in front of the real life person whose character I portray in the play. There were lots of tears and hugs. People are still making art that matters. Emphatically, still, we belong. In the wake of Stephen Colbert’s final show on CBS, destructive blows to the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and the continued barrage of news that would have us believe otherwise, we belong.

I say all that to say, the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region has decided to name me their Poet Laureate, the first in their organanizational history. For years, folks have fondly given me the title, Poet Lareate, unofficially. I am incredibly moved that this is happening in real life. The title has a nice ring to it of course, but more than that, at this moment in time, to have an organization whose mission is “dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all” back me brings tears to my eyes as I write this. I’m grateful to be seen and to have another microphone to pick up. I still have a lot of words, censored or not, to speak into it.

In this newsletter: Poet Laureate Celebration Invite, First Draft Workshop Registration, The Write Situation writing circle, BDA, Inc. Exhibit at Spring Street Gallery, Listen to my podcast, d.colin.ized, The Rev Art Studio, Support on Patreon, Quote of the Week

In the words of Lucille Clifton, “won’t you celebrate with me”?! I cannot wait to see you and share space for this special occasion. Make sure to save the date, June 25th and get your tickets early! Many, many thanks to the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region for this honor.

Reserve Tickets

First Draft: Virtual Poetry Workshop

Only one person signed up! Maybe because I scheduled starting on the tail end of a long weekend. [Insert laughter here] That’s why I deciding to start a week later than planned in case anyone still wants to get in on this writing workshop. Join me for five Mondays to define, write, revise and learn about poetry for yourself whether for your creative writing practice or personal writing curiosity! Let me know if you have any questions!

Details
When: Every Monday, June1st - June 29th
Time: 6 PM - 7 PM ET
Where: Virtual

Cost: $100 for the full series [pay over time options available]
Includes weekly workbooks, live attendance, replays, and personalized feedback.

Reserve Your Spot

We’re approaching week 10! It’s been wonderful to meet in community and get to know folks attending. Last week, there was eight of us writing together. I’m optimistic about growth and connecting with more folks as word spreads. The Write Situation is a writing circle for the poets, playwrights, memoirists, novelists and casual morning journalers ready to put pen to paper in community. Join me every Tuesday evening for dedicated writing time in an intentional space for inspiration, connection and productive creativity! Proceeds go towards supplies, refreshments and sustaining studio space at KBK Studios.

Check out Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. current exhibit, “Our Voices-Resilience: Strength, Persistence and Determination,” at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs. The show will be up until June 28th! Viewing hours are Wednesdays, 6 pm-8 pm and Saturdays/Sundays from 11 am-1 pm.

The Rev Art Studio, LLC is the joint venture between me and my hubby, Robert Cooper. We’re both artists doing what we can to create and make it in this world. If you’re looking for art to put on your walls or other merch, check out our website, therevartshop.com and if you’re in town for the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh this June, stop by our tent!

Ep. 3: In Honor of Haitian Flag Day

The poem I share in this episode of d.colin.ized is called “Sacred Land” inspired by the history of Jean-Jacques Dessalines and the women who contributed to the Haitian Revolution. You can find and listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Substack for your convenience.

Listen

What’s on Patreon?

There’s a little something for everyone on Patreon...bonus episodes, writing prompts, digital downloads, etc. It’s been years in the making but I’m finally in a flow. If you can and want to, support ranges from $3-$100 and every dollar helps me continue holding space for people to be creative and curious including yourself.

Learn More

Quote for the week:

“come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.”

-Lucille Clifton

Performed on May 2nd 20206 at Proctors Theater for the You, Me and Poetry Festival, the poem I shared is called “Sacred Land.” I was thinking about Jean Jacques Dessalines and the women who contributed to the Haitian Revolution. The only didn’t name in the poem and I may write an entire poem just for her is Cecile Fatiman. She alongside Dutty Boukman led a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caiman which marked the beginning of the Haitian Revolution. Really what’s important here is that enslaved Africans held the first major meeting that would lead to their independence from France and Cecile a woman was at the helm.

The women I do mention in the poem are Victoria Montou, a Dahomey warrior and revolutionary fighter in the army of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Marie Sainte Dedee Bazil also known as Defilee who marched with and sold provisions to soldiers and Catherine Flon who we can thank for the creation of the Haitian Flag.

Thank you for listening!

The poem about liberation is a draft revised again and again. I think we’ve experienced levels of freedom but I think it’s safe to say we’ve never seen liberation for everyone everywhere at once. What does liberation look like in the age of the internet when we can see people from across the world on our little devices as war. capitalism and the isms of oppression rage against progress?

Last week, I went for a walk in my neighborhood to look at spots for potential public art. This particular strip of north Troy otherwise known as Lansingburgh is rife with empty storefronts and neglected buildings with a few businesses sprinkled among them. Art can’t fix the systemic problem reflected in how it looks but it can inspire change for the people who live and work there. The Lansingburgh Public Art Project is being spearheaded by Albany Center Gallery and the Arts Center of the Capital Region.

That day for the press conference event, I started a new painting rendition of a blackout poem collage I made last year and I started imagining what I would paint on a wall or what language I could wrap around a building. I’ll be brainstorming what to submit but whatever it is, I know it’ll be rooted in freedom. Artists are in the work of creating what we’ve never seen. More than making art, we are crafting freedom and reminding people not only how free we already are but also how free we can still be especially in times like these.

What’s Happening?

First Draft: Virtual Poetry Workshop

We’re only one week away from my annual poetry writing workshop. This series is perfect for beginners, writers in other genres wanting to try poetry and poets ready to dust off their notebooks. All levels are welcome though! We’ll meet virtually every Monday evening starting May 25th for five weeks to learn, build and revise new and old work. There’s space for nine more folks! I keep it small so I can give quality feedback and give detailed attention to questions. Hope to see you there!

This 5-week virtual workshop series is designed for poets of all levels to explore, experiment, and build confidence. Learn to develop your unique voice and foundational writing skills.

Details:
When: Every Monday, May 25th - June 22nd
Time: 6 PM - 7 PM ET
Where: Online via Zoom
Cost: $100 for the full series
Includes weekly workbooks, live attendance, replays, and feedback.

Reserve Your Spot

The Write Situation is a writing circle for the poets, playwrights, memoirists, novelists and casual morning journalers ready to put pen to paper in community. Join me every Tuesday evening for dedicated writing time in an intentional space for inspiration, connection and productive creativity! Proceeds go towards supplies, refreshments and sustaining studio space at KBK Studios.

Sign Up!

Support on Patreon

Check out Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. current exhibit, “Our Voices-Resilience: Strength, Persistence and Determination,” at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs. The show will be up until June 28th! Viewing hours are Wednesdays, 6 pm-8 pm and Saturdays/Sundays from 11 am-1 pm.

Join me on May 21st, 6 pm-7 pm for a Poetry Reading followed by Q & A!

I’ll be the voice of “Cookie” in this stage reading of Aunt Pookie’s Girls! Written and directed by Hettie Barnhill, it will be a night of warm storytelling and sisterhood. Save the date, May 23rd!

The Rev Art Studio, LLC is the joint venture between me and my hubby, Robert Cooper. We’re both artists doing what we can to create and make it in this world. If you’re looking for art to put on your walls or other merch, check out our website, therevartshop.com and if you’re in town for the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh this June, stop by our tent!

Quote for the week: “When I woke up, I reminded myself that freedom is never free. You have to fight for it. Work for it and make sure you are able to handle it.” ― Toni Morrison, God Help the Child

So much life has happened on my end since I wrote to you last. I can’t even believe it’s been a month since my last newsletter. I went home to celebrate March birthdays including mine and my mother’s at my father’s church on March 29th. That day also happened to be my parents 51st wedding anniversary and my father read a poem for my mother from the pulpit followed by the sweetest hug I think I’ve ever seen. Hearing my dad read his acrostic poem in beautiful rhythmic and rhyming French was a moment I’ll be holding close to my heart for a long while. It’s National Poetry Month now. I haven’t written as much as I thought I would but I’ve got a column in The Metroland and a growing writing circle called The Write Situation that I’m excited for.

March ended. Then it was Easter at a friend’s church, opening reception at Spring Street Gallery, catching a cold and losing my voice, going to a table reading in Stockbridge, MA, spending some time with my uncle who recently had an emergency hospital visit and going back to Connecticut for my childhood neighbor’s funeral. His name was Joe, a firefighter and veteran whose last days were taken by dementia. Growing up next to the same family since I was ten makes people family when their like the family that lived next door to me. I’ve had so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and lemonade with them. I remember being locked out after school one day and waiting patiently on the back steps of my house for one of my parents to eventually make it home when Joe decided we’d break in! He pulled a ladder from his garage and I climbed through the dining room window. In the age before cell phones and with my parents working multiple jobs, I would have been out there for a few hours. It was a running joke for a long time.

About a week ago, I led a workshop at Emma Willard School for the High School Regional Writers Workshop and this past Thursday, I made my way to Baldwin High School in Long Island to facilitate a workshop for their Poetry Invitational. Yesterday, I spent the day in Manchester, NH for the Luna Moth Zine Fest, my first vendor event this year. And this morning, I’m thinking about the typewriter I didn’t get in Northampton the other day because the letter q didn’t work and how my uncle who’s still recovering from his hospital scare, used to fix typewriters. I think I’ll ask him If he still remembers how. Returning can be good for the spirit.

I’ve covered a lot of miles across five states in the last month. I’ve seen country roads with spreading green, scenic bodies of water and animals both wild and farm raised going about their business with no mind to the chaos of the world. I didn’t plan this break. I can’t even remember the last time I missed writing newsletters for longer than two weeks. But I’m back! And I’m grateful to have spent so much time with people I love and in inspiring spaces with new and familiar faces. Just being present is the gift that keeps giving whether the occasion is sad or filled with laughter. I feel like I’ve had a kind of reset and lots of reminders that beauty and the best parts of the human spirit still exist. Yesterday, on two separate instances, different people enthusiastically spoke some Haitian Creole with me to my surprise. Both learned the language because they wanted to help the Haitian population they were working with who spoke little to no English. They hadn’t spoken it with anyone lately and I was happy to oblige. Here’s to finding language where there is none, to holding each other while we can and doing the things that make our spirits smile.

In this newsletter: The Write Situation, BDA, Inc. Exhibit Opening, Aunt Pookie’s Girls, Quote of the Week

What’s Happening?

The Write Situation is a writing circle for the poets, playwrights, memoirists, novelists and casual morning journalers ready to put pen to paper in community. Join me every Tuesday evening for dedicated writing time in an intentional space for inspiration, connection and productive creativity!

This space is for you if you’re looking for:

gentle accountability

structured time

writing inspiration

supportive discussion

a community of writers

The Write Situation is a donation based event. Donations can be made in-person or virtually by pre-registering. You can also support by signing up for the Writing Circle tier at $5/month or the Workshop Team tier at $20/month on Patreon or joining The Write Situation Group Page on my website with a monthly plan.

Though pre-registering and donating is not required, it helps me plan for refreshments and supplies for the group, and pay the rent I owe on my studio space at KBK Studios. Hope to see you there! Give yourself the time to write it down and see where your imagination takes you!

Sign Up!

Support on Patreon

Check out Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. current exhibit, “Our Voices-Resilience: Strength, Persistence and Determination,” at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs. The show will be up until June 28th! Stay tuned for upcoming dates for events in connection to the exhibit but save the date for April 30th, 6 pm-7 pm for the Artist Talk!

Check me out on May 2nd at Proctors Theater for the You, Me and Poetry Showcase, organized by Schenectady Poet Laureate, Adonis Richards. Tickets are available now. Show starts at 7 pm.

Buy Tickets

I’ll be the voice of “Cookie” in this stage reading of Aunt Pookie’s Girls! Written and directed by Hettie Barnhill, it will be a night of warm storytelling and sisterhood. Save the date, May 23rd!

“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get, you’ve got to make yourself” - Alice Walker

So I’m pulling the books off of my shelf and giving myself two days to read each one. Some of them, I’ve started and haven’t finished. Others I haven’t begun at all. But I want to gift myself reading each one from start to finish. That means my goal for the month is to finish fifteen poetry collections.

What do you have sitting on your shelf that you haven’t picked up yet? Here’s what my reading list looks like for April!

1. Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith

2. Vulnerable AF by Tarriona “Tank” Ball

3. Chrome Valley by Mahogany L. Browne

4. Primitive: the Art and Life of Horace H. Pippen by Janice N. Harrington

5. We Seek Asylum by Gustavo Adolfo Aybar

6. A Conjuring of Dandelions by A.L. Garcia

7. No Dictionary of a Living Tongue by Duriel E. Harris

8. Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

9. 2000 Blacks by Ajibola Tolase

10. Hip Logic by Terrance Hayes

11. The Absurd Man by Major Jackson

12. Pansy by Andrea Gibson

13. Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery by Pamela Sneed

14. You Don’t Have to Go to Mars for Love by Yona Harvey

15. Gumbo Ya Ya by Aurielle Marie

April is also the month when poets challenge themselves to write a poem every day with the goal of having 30 poem drafts by the month’s end. I’ve learned that while I value what can come out of a challenge like that from past experience, I’ll be happy to write fifteen drafts, one poem for every book I finish. I always admire folks who take on the Sealey Challenge started by Nicole Sealey. During the month of August folks read a book of poems per day. I’ve tried to do it myself but I never really get the thing going fully and maybe this can be my warm up to that while I also write new poems.

Stay tuned for my thoughts and progress on my reading. I’d love to hear from you if you join in on the reading, if you have some of the same books on your shelf or have recommendations! Here’s to reading more poems, writing more poems and the inspiration I’m sure will come from the journey!

Thank you for reading! For more, visit dcolin.com.

Last night I couldn’t sleep. I tried all the relaxation things-tea, music, silence, a show I’m sure I can fall asleep to. I even read a book, ironically titled Rest Is Resistance. Finally, I let all that go and cracked open the intro course I’m taking in herbal studies. I should be sleeping through the night. I’m on the tail-end of a full weekend. On Friday, the amount of people in the room literally raised the temperature at the opening of the High School Regional Exhibit at Albany Center Gallery. It warmed my heart to see students taking photos near their work knowing I played a part in choosing the art for the show. I couldn’t stay the whole time because I had to head over to the Friends Meeting House to do a poetry reading in honor of spring, peace and justice. And if that wasn’t a full enough night, when I got home, I finished a grant application I had been working on.

Yesterday, I woke up early for a play rehearsal on Zoom and then made my way to the Sanctuary for Independent Media to lead a workshop following a short documentary called, “Run, Hide, Fight: Growing Up Under the Gun.” The event, a result of planning over months, drew a few folks out on a Saturday afternoon. We shared some powerful stories from our life experiences, talked about what safe and sacred space looks like and enjoyed some snacks. We have to have snacks of course! And even though we were small in number, I think, based on heartfelt responses and thank-yous, people went home with what they needed.

Today, I’m off to Saratoga to drop off work with Robert at Spring Street Gallery for Black Dimensions in Art’s next exhibit. I’ll be back in time to join friends from Cave Canem on Zoom who after being in a workshop with Patricia Smith years ago have not only stayed in touch but have formed a kind of salon and writing group amongst ourselves. Today, a poem of mine is up for critique and I have a writing prompt for the group. I love to attend and lead workshops but there’s something about a writing group especially one that is supportive, generative and edifying as we meet to talk about poems and life. I’ve been looking at MFA programs and there are several poetry collection ideas circling around in my head. It helps to have people to talk to about that. Writers or artists in general don’t have to create in isolation.

Every month, I share writing prompts on Patreon for my Writing Circle tier but I’ve been wanting to build more community around sharing space and writing so I decided to start an in-person writing experience called The Write Situation. I’ll still be sharing writing prompts on Patreon (there’ll be 30 of them for National Poetry Month in April!) but this is my way of creating a space for people including myself to connect while writing. This week will be our third time meeting and already I see the possibilities of creativity and community we can foster together.

Not every weekend is busy like this so I’m grateful for the work. And though the dry months are challenging when the work slows down, I’m grateful for the time and quiet to think of new spaces like The Write Situation, new bodies of work that I hope I get that grant money for and new goals like an MFA or becoming a certified herbalist to add to my creative practice. Change allows sight where there’s uncertainty. We just have to open our eyes and look.

In this newsletter: The Write Situation, Arts Rally, Kickstarter Campaign, Hart Cluett Museum Gala, “No Ma’ammy” Exhibit Closing Reception, Open Studio, BDA, Inc. Exhibit Opening Reception, Luna Moth Zine Fest, Aunt Pookie’s Girls, Quote of the Week

The Write Situation is a writing circle for the poets, playwrights, memoirists, novelists and casual morning journalers ready to put pen to paper in community. Join me every Tuesday evening for dedicated writing time in an intentional space for inspiration, connection and productive creativity!

This space is for you if you’re looking for:

• gentle accountability

• structured time

• writing inspiration

• supportive discussion

• a community of writers

The Write Situation is a donation based event. Donations can be made in-person or virtually by pre-registering. You can also support by signing up for the Writing Circle tier at $5/month or the Workshop Team tier at $20/month on Patreon or joining The Write Situation Group Page on my website with a monthly plan.

Though pre-registering and donating is not required, it helps me plan for refreshments and supplies for the group, and pay the rent I owe on my studio space at KBK Studios. Hope to see you there! Give yourself the time to write it down and see where your imagination takes you!

Pre-register

Support on Patreon

Join us for a rally to support the importance of arts and culture in our communities and the justification for expanded funding to programming and initiatives we hold near and dear, specifically in this years budget allocations.

A Statewide Organizational Convergence on the Importance of the 
Arts in New York State and in Support of Arts and Cultural Funding

DATE: Wednesday, March 25 at 12:00 NOON

WHERE: SENATE GALLERY, 4th Floor of the Capital Building | 198 State Street, Albany NY

FREE and Open to the Public.

We reached our goal on Kickstarter!! It’s been a journey but we’re gearing up to hit the ground running as the deadline for the campaign quickly approaches this Wednesday! Thank you so much to everyone who’s pledged so far. The more we have, the more books we can have printed on this first run! Stay tuned as it all unfolds! In the meantime, if you want to get any of the rewards that are exclusive to donors on the campaign, there’s still time to give and get those Kickstarter only rewards.

Donate Here

I’ll be performing a poem at this year’s Hart Cluett Gala on March 26th! And it’s SOLD OUT!

If you’ve never been to the Hart Cluett Museum, check out their website to plan a visit!

Hart Cluett Museum

If you haven’t seen the exhibit, “No Ma’ammy,” an exhibit celebrating and showing of the brilliance and beauty of Black women, here is your last opportunity!

Closing Reception, Friday March 27th 5:00-7:00pm. I’ll be performing between 5 pm and 6 pm. Come through and check out all the work in the show at C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios Troy location at 621 River St.

Then head over to KBK Studios for open studio with The Rev! Robert and I will have photography, mixed media work and poems on display. Bring your sketchbook, bring a friend, bring your curiosity and chat with us while we vibe out for Troy Night Out!

This event is FREE to attend! Any purchased work or donations are welcome.

The next exhibit for Black Dimensions in Art, Inc., “Our Voices-Resilience: Strength, Persistence and Determination,” opens on Saturday, April 4th at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs from 12 pm-3 pm.

The Rev Art Studio (Robert and I) will be vending at the Luna Moth Zine Fest on April 18th, 2026 from 11am to 4pm, at the YWCA located at 72 Concord Street in Manchester, NH!

Learn more about BDA, Inc.

More Info on the Luna Moth Zine Fest

Quote for the week: “You have to choose to see.” - Mahogany L. Browne

Last month, I did a workshop called “Poetics of Liberation” for an Afrofuturist conference at UAlbany. We had a great time discussing concepts of Afrofuturism and the ways it can show up in writing. I didn’t set out to be an Afrofuturist artist but I’ve come to notice it in my work and the ways it manifest naturally, that now sometimes I become intentional about it moreso with visual art than with poetry. I really enjoyed looking at it from a poetic angle especially since I enjoy work by Saul Williams, Aime Cesaire, Octavia Butler and Tracie Morris among others. I think now, I may start to notice it more in my poetry. We’ll see.

Anyway, here are the prompts from that workshop. You don’t have to be into Afrofuturism to use these writing prompts. Just have fun with them. As always, I’d love to hear what comes up for you or which prompt resonated with you the most.

Happy writing!

Read more

This poem became my anthem for a while. It’s unrelenting pace and emotion, it’s honesty without apology, it’s reclamation and resistance gave me permission to tell my own story. That poem as well as for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat undoubtedly left deep impressions on my college mind trying to find my voice in the world. They certainly laid the foundation for me to write my play, Psalm 91: Releasing Religion and individual poems throughout the years that confront fear, foster healing, and claim freedom. On this first day of March, the beginning of Women’s History Month, I’m thinking about my rights, about this poem written by June Jordan in 1978, about how much time has passed since then and how relevant this poem still is from the street corner to the highest office in the land.

But this week, I also welcome March, the month of my mother’s birthday and mine, the month of my parents’ wedding anniversary. My birthday is also the day my maternal grandmother was buried. I still think about her even if we never met. After all, the day I was born will always carry her memory and a close attachment to her spirit that I can’t fully explain nor feel the need to. It just is. This long line of women I come from, the stories that make up who I am, stories that came before me and the stories I make now, makes me proud and grateful. This month has always been about family and reflection for me.

I have no plans for my birthday this Saturday but I’ve got many wishes for the world, for my community, my family, myself. I wish for our eyes to be open, our hands to be busy and our hearts to be full of everything that makes the world better. The kind of stuff that protects our humanity and the sanctity of our existence. I can’t pretend I’m all that excited for a day with no plans but I am grateful. I’m grateful to have language now to say the things my younger self struggled with, for courage and discernment, for the breath still in my body and the intention to do something with it.

Thank you for reading! I’m a full-time multidisciplinary writer and artist based in the New York Capital Region. To get my weekly newsletter with updates on upcoming shows, workshops, and other ways to engage with my work, visit dcolin.com and to get exclusive bonus content including writing prompts, access to new creative work-in-progress and workshops, check out my Patreon.

Be inspired. Then inspire.

This week, I’m finishing a fairly large painting. By fairly large, I mean 48 x 60 inches. It feels appropriate to close out Black History Month and enter Women’s History Month finishing a painting that commemorates the inauguration of Dr. Dorcey Applyrs and the poem I wrote for the occasion. It feels good to lay brush to canvas. It’s another kind of slowing down for me. Instead of worrying, I’m working through my thoughts with some paint. This past weekend, I facilitated a workshop called Poetics of Liberation that explored Afrofuturist poetry and engaging the imagination to write in the spirit of resistance, ritual and reclamation. I read a couple of my poems, “Painting Flowers at a Time Like This” published in the EcoTheo Review and “the dream begins with a black bird” which appears in this month’s Metroland paper. I also read a poem by Tracie Morris called “Mother Earth” and a poem by Lucille Clifton called “note, passed to superman.” Poetry for me is about taking up space where I doubt I should, investigating whether the things I learned about seeing the world are truths I should keep, imagining and reimagining the world, time travel, dream explorations and holding conversations with voices either real or supernatural that leads to a revelation about this lived experience on this planet. The imagination makes everything possible.

In short, it is political whether I intend for it to be or not. I made a post on Facebook not too long ago about deleting TikTok after I discovered all my videos had been taken down. I could write poems about flowers, about trees in summer, about my relationship with small creeks and large rivers. I can. In fact, I have. And every time, the poem still manages to talk about a social issue. A red leaf tree in August becomes a poem about police brutality. An Old Mill Trail becomes a poem about how we treat the earth and how it still loves us back even to its own detriment. A tube of paint and my brush against canvas slowly making flowers appear becomes a poem about my family dying in Haiti and how I deserve a soft place. Even a poem about my joy, my hair, and the way I love in a world that hasn’t always seen it or accepted it makes it inherently political. I say all to say, I know what it is to be heckled by a racist, to never be invited back to a gig and now to have my content removed.

I hope the river stays frozen a while longer. There’s something hopeful about winter returning to the kind of winter I remember from my childhood. Like a new cycle is starting. It’s a ripe time to create new work. When I think of all the authors I love who’ve been banned at one time or another, I’d say I’m in good company. The work continues however icy it gets, maybe even especially. Stay warm out there and keep creating.

Thank you for reading! I’m a full-time multidisciplinary writer and artist based in the New York Capital Region. To get my weekly newsletter with updates on upcoming shows, workshops, and other ways to engage with my work, visit dcolin.com and to get exclusive bonus content including writing prompts, access to new creative work-in-progress and workshops, check out my Patreon.

Be inspired. Then inspire.

I’ve gone there a couple of times to experience and to host open mic at The Poet’s Passage. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend. If I ever have the capital for a storefront, it would be inspired by The Poet’s Passage with floor to ceiling poetry inspired artwork and a comfy culturally decked meeting space that feels like home.

Last time I was in Puerto Rico, I put my feet in the water and pretended I could see Haiti. I whispered a little hello in my heart and stood there squeezing wet sand between my toes as the ocean water lapped against my ankles. I didn’t come with a swimsuit but I said I wouldn’t leave without my feet touching the Caribbean Sea. It’s the closest I could get to the country I miss and haven’t been to in twelve years.

I have to admit, I was not a Bad Bunny fan. I think when I first heard of him, I couldn’t get past the name and then I heard maybe one Reggaeton song (which I can’t remember) and decided it just wasn’t for me. Then something happened. This person and their music kept popping up. I was on Instagram one night and all of my feed was filled with Puerto Rican comrades in poetry moved to tears over a concert they just watched. I had to ask who everyone was going on about and it was Bad Bunny. That got my attention.

I always say if I get off stage and the art didn’t move you then I didn’t do my job. Well, Bad Bunny was doing his job in spades and it was time, I thought, I should be paying more attention to him so I did. And what I learned is how much I respect his work and how much I admire his investment in what he represents and what he believes especially when it means standing up for what’s right. Not to mention, something happens when you listen to more than one song. You might find ones you really like. How about that?

A friend eagerly asked me what I thought about the halftime show and we went into an excited conversation raving about the richness of the imagery, all the easter eggs we want to go back and find, and simply the necessity of this moment at a time like now. I started talking about seeing the Haitian flag on the football field amongst all these other flags. The knot in my throat and scratch in my voice surprised me a little. I knew the tears were coming next and I didn’t know why I wanted to cry. Bad Bunny said Haiti and I just felt seen I guess. I saw Haiti in the sugarcane, in the dominoes on the table, in those chairs Ricky Martin sat on, in the cup of piragua or what we call fresco in Haiti. Now that I’ve had a week to process. I think I had water in my eyes because I miss Haiti. I worry for Haiti. And because this visual affirmation not only reminded me of my culture and my ancestral home, it made me feel like Haitians are not forgotten. This is what inclusion feels like.

This weekend, I went home to see my parents. I’ve been promising my mother that this is her last winter here because her body can’t take the cold anymore and given the health issues she has, even her doctor said her best medicine would be going back to where she can bask in the sun’s warmth and eat from the land everyday. I know we can’t go to Haiti right now so I shared an idea with her about Puerto Rico and I saw a light sparkle in her eyes. Yesterday, my dad asked if I’m doing anything for my upcoming birthday and I said no but I took an opportunity to ask what he wanted for his 80th birthday this year. He said somewhere he can rest a little, maybe Puerto Rico. I don’t know if mom’s been planting seeds in his mind too but what I know is even if they can’t see their home, I want to give them that moment in the same ocean water squeezing the wet sand with their toes looking off in the direction of Haiti. Even if we can’t get there, we can at least get close.

Thank you for reading! I’m a full-time multidisciplinary writer and artist based in the New York Capital Region. To get my weekly newsletter with updates on upcoming shows, workshops, and other ways to engage with my work, visit dcolin.com and to get exclusive bonus content including writing prompts, access to new creative work-in-progress and workshops, check out my Patreon.

Be inspired. Then inspire.

Today marks the start of Black History Month and this year is the 100th anniversary! I dream of a day when history isn’t censored, whitewashed and skewed for political reasons. Until then, it’s so vital that we continue to dig into the archives, document unheard stories and listen to the voices of the unheard. Carter G. Woodson, founder of Negro History Week which would evolve into Black History Month said, “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” Essentially how do we move forward with confidence and spirited understanding if we don’t know where we’ve been.

I was talking to a friend yesterday who asked about my next workshop and I’ve been thinking so much about how much patience is required to see something grow from no signups to two people to hopefully one day, a full house. That in-between time is shaky. All kinds of questions come up for me about how I’m using my time, how can I make it sustainable and do I keep going. And though logistics and sustainability matter to a point, I think the most important part is that I make space for people to discover and build on their own voices. Sharing our stories is how we connect with each other and create change in this human experience. I’m reminded of how I like to show up to the mic with the same presence whether there’s five or five thousand. It’s no different in any other way. If we reach one, we can reach many.

This month, I’m starting the books, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey and Gumbo Ya Ya by Aurielle Marie while finishing Manifest: 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life by Roxie Nafousi as part of a commitment to read more books from my shelves. I’m realizing that at this time in my life with the uncertainty of gigs and grants that there is enough quiet time to tap back in, to shift how I show up as an writer, as an archivist, as an artist. I’m feeding my mind so I can keep telling the stories that need telling. Some days are harder than others but if I’ve learned anything from history is that we press on and there is still joy to be made.

In this newsletter: New podcast episode, Troy Studio “No Ma’ammy” Exhibit, Next Writing to Exhale, 21st Annual Members’ Show, Wellness Workshop, Quote of the Week

What’s Happening?

Waking up this morning means we can still do something

Listen to this episode from D*Colin*ized on Spotify. Happy Black History Month! In this episode, I share my poem “I woke up this morning” and talk about the urgency of now, specifically highlighting TPS for Haitians in the U.S. Thank you all for listening to this episode of d.colin.ized.

If you resonated with this episode and you’d like to help support the podcast, I’d love for you to join me over on Patreon. For just $3/month you can help me keep this going and get bonus episodes as well as listening access to my full poetry sets when I perform somewhere. As a full-time artist, a little goes a long way when it comes from a village.

Save the date! February 7th! Exhibit #2 for 2026 is “No Ma’ammy,” an exhibit celebrating and showing of the brilliance and beauty of Black women. Come through and check out all the work in the show at C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios Troy location at 621 River St.

Next Writing to Exhale workshop will be Monday, February 16th at 7 pm. Registration link will be live in the next newsletter but save the date! Our theme for the night is action and rest.

I’m also bringing back The Write Situation, a writing circle for writers looking for co-working space, feedback and accountability to get the words on the page. Every Tuesday at 7 pm starting March 10th! Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, check out writing circle prompts on Patreon.

Check out the 21st Annual Members’ Show at Albany Center Gallery’s new space located at 48 N. Pearl St. The 21st Annual Members’ Show is free and open to the public; Tuesday - Saturday, Noon - 5 p.m.

I’m facilitating one night of the Wellness Workshop Series at the Albany Social Justice Center on February 26th from 5:30-7 pm. Activism requires care, creativity, and space to breathe. This workshop invites activists into a restorative writing practice rooted in poetry, reflection, and intention. Through thoughtfully designed writing prompts, participants will explore their lived experiences and social realities, generating poetic work that allows for emotional release, renewed energy, and visionary expression. We will also discuss how writing and meditation can function as practices of rest, grounding, and resistance—supporting long-term sustainability and wellness in social change movements.

“Hard times require furious dancing. Each of us is proof.” —Alice Walker

Happy Black History Month! In this episode, I share my poem “I woke up this morning” and talk about the urgency of now, specifically highlighting TPS for Haitians in the U.S.

It’s not every week quite yet but two episodes in a month’s time is great for a person who’s been doing this podcast when I feel like it. I’m excited for a new pace. Welcome to the second episode for this year. My goal is to record fifty new episodes including the ones I post for my village over on Patreon. My podcast peeps tier is only $3/month. You can get bonus content including listening access to full sets of poetry when I go perform somewhere. I hope you get something out of this episode and share with someone. Thank you so much for listening! And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter for free at dcolin.com. May we all be inspired and then inspire.

Thank you all for listening. For more and my newsletter, go to my website, dcolin.com. You can support the podcast right here on Substack or check my Podcast Peeps tier (or other tiers) on Patreon.

Until next time, we can all learn or unlearn something new. Peace, power and poetry.

It's funny at my big age, I still want to see awe and pride in my parents' eyes, especially, since I chose the arts for a living and not the medical field or engineering or law. My dad repeated the name of the building several times to remember it. That means he's ready to tell the story of how his daughter has work in a museum. I don't know if my mom understood my poem completely but she stood long enough in front of it to let me know now she can say her daughter has a poem on a wall in this big place the next time someone asks her about my work. That's enough for me.

As the exhibit and this year come to a close on the 31st of this month, I'm prepping for my last Writing to Exhale workshop of the year and writing something important. I've been tussling around with a poem. Maybe today, it'll finally feel finished. When I was a kid, I watched my TV screen hanging on every word pouring from the type of voice that feels like a hug and 'don't try me' at the same time. She was this tall, Black woman and a poet at a presidential inauguration. My fourth grade self didn't fully know what that meant. I'd never seen anything like it. I just knew she looked like me and I wanted to do that one day even if I didn't know how yet.

Maya Angelou reading "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993 has been seared in my mind ever since. All these years later, I find myself writing and revising a poem for the inauguration of the first Black mayor of Albany in its over 300 year history. My mother has bought me an outfit for the occasion. My dad says to send him the link to the livestream so he can watch and I'm sure now, so he can share. That part. The quiet way they show they're pride now over my choice to be a poet. I'm holding that close to my chest on January 1st as I take part in history, me, the daughter of Haitian immigrants (reading a poem on Haitian Independence Day no less). It is a dream made real.

In this newsletter: Writing to Exhale: Year-End workshop, Patreon, BDA Exhibit, Hart Cluett Museum, Social Justice Artist Collective, Quote of the Week

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On Sunday, a young Black girl walked into the studio with an adult wearing a pink hat and holding a plastic container full of pink and green cotton candy. She asked a bunch of questions, then said she wants to be an artist when she grows up. I encouraged her to keep drawing even though now I’m at the point of applying for jobs. This week, I sat still in the studio for twenty minutes contemplating what to do with this space I might not be able to afford anymore. And then there are moments like this, when we have direct access to the public in the heart of downtown and a little Black girl makes sure to shake my hand twice because she thinks she just met someone famous. The universe knows how to send an affirmation even if it’s hard to hold on to. I can still see her little hands holding the stickers I gave her and hear the big WOW as she left back down the stairs.

Yesterday, I signed on to Zoom for a monthly poetry writing group that I’m in with poets I’ve met through Cave Canem. One of them brought up Zora Neale Hurston whose work we admire so much but whose life was quite depressing. It’s hard to imagine the weight of her contribution to literature against an unmarked grave. Although, I’m grateful to Alice Walker for making sure the world doesn’t forget Hurston, I wish she was able to reap the benefits of her renown while she was alive. Making art is expensive. It costs money of course but also time, tears and sweat. I hope that little girl doesn’t lose her awe but most of all, I hope there’s a village to sustain her wildest dreams.

I think, next year, I’ll finally be Sojourner Truth in Monument Square right by the Christmas tree. And today, even in the midst of a declining sales, the fragile nature of paying rent and outright fearmongering xenophobia preoccupying my mind among so many other things, I’m encouraged by a child’s face lighting up. Wherever you are, find the light. It will always show you the way.

In this newsletter: Writing to Exhale: Year-End Reflection Workshop, Patreon, BDA Exhibit, Hart Cluett Museum, Social Justice Artist Collective, Quote of the Week

Check out this week’s announcements HERE! Don’t miss out on this month’s upcoming workshop!

Until next time,

D. Colin

dcolin.com