“Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust.” ― bell hooks, Communion: The Female Search for Love
If there is one thing I've learned over the last ten years of Saathi, it is that we are an amazing group of changemakers.
I believe in us!
In celebration of this milestone, I am thrilled to share that my debut book Say The Quiet Part Out Loud is now available for purchase at all major booksellers.
“A love letter to the changemakers who are working tirelessly toward building a more just future.”
Through coaching, truth-telling and guided reflections, Say The Quiet Part Out Loud brings you – the reader – to the summit of an anti-racism and anti-oppression journey, allowing you to be seen, challenged, and more liberated in how you show up.
This book is a reminder that you don’t need permission to change the world.
As I reflect on the journey of writing this book, I wanted to share some of what led me to the methods, reflections, and stories that make up Say The Quiet Part Out Loud.
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As a purpose-driven activist, the last few years have been something else. I was feeling – like many of you – defeated, overwhelmed; stuck in a cycle of the same conversations and inaction. The years leading up to 2020 were already taking a toll and 2020-2022 broke everything in this work – the personal, political and communal – wide open. And I could feel that this place of defeat couldn’t be where I got stuck. I had to find another way to keep moving.
As I searched for an antidote to the heartbreak I felt, I found myself drawn to creating something and reflecting in different and new ways. I started with a pottery class. I ended up with a book. Perhaps because I believed in the power of saying and sharing “the quiet part” with others – how it can help us all feel less alone and more connected in our communal purpose – I started writing. Maybe I just needed to get it out. I didn’t know when I started what would come out at the end but I knew I needed community and realignment that was more connected with my fellow changemakers and that embraced possibility and big vision.
Hearing my friends, colleagues, and the folks I was coaching tell me about how they too were struggling and seeing how focused, honest encouragement and co-conspiring supported them with continuing their work – especially in ways that better preserved their well-being, relationships, and purpose – was the foundation for Say The Quiet Part Out Loud.
We as individuals always have power – even in giant complex systems. And more importantly, we have power when we work together. This doesn’t mean that we are meant to show up in the same ways – we are not meant to work towards conformity. But when we combine our multiplicity of gifts, energy, ideas, care, and agency, we build and commit to a more shared and cohesive movement; a true community of interconnected changemakers and edgewalkers.
I believe this is the way forward – a mutli-racial, multi-gendered, intergenerational, diverse group of folks climbing the mountain towards a different future; a changed world that is liberated and just.
Real talk: launching a book is terrifying. There is so much hesitation and doubt. And yet – I committed to saying the quiet part out loud. I named my book after this one simple yet transformative action! Of course it comes with hesitation. Of course it comes with a pause. This is by design in systems of dominance and oppression. And yet, this path of courage is what I hope we can all aspire to: to say the thing, even if our voice shakes. As I have sat through this process, I have grown to feel deeply that my small offering to this world is purposeful. My hope is that it lands as a dose of encouragement and love for fellow changemakers. It does not stand alone, but becomes an addition to an already robust and vibrant choir of those who came before and hopefully one day a footnote of those who will come after.
Thank you for joining me on this journey and I can’t wait until we can talk and co-conspire together.