PBParty Entry #4 : Where They Gather

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GENRE: **Diverse, STEM/STEAM, Rhyming

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WORDS: 219

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Query:

Hello,

I am submitting my 219-word manuscript, WHERE THEY GATHER for your consideration.

WHERE THEY GATHER is a lyrical story that reflects the strength, resilience, and celebration of a young Black family through the lens of a pecan sapling. As the sapling weathers the seasons of change in Alabama during the early 1900s and grows into a present-day fixture of family gatherings, the reader is left with an appreciation of what it takes to survive and flourish. Filled with the power and determination to overcome discrimination and hardship of Still I Rise and the affirmation, empowerment, and hope of All Because You Matter, WHERE THEY GATHER is inspired by my own history and the pecan tree that our family continues to gather around.

In a former life, I worked as a histotechnologist cutting body parts and keeping legs in refrigerators, as my youngest daughter once said. Now, I spend my days writing, working as an admin for #BlackCreatorsHQ, and serving as Board Secretary for BAM Festival Inc., a nonprofit in South Florida that promotes children’s literacy.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

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Excerpt:

Weathered hands that tend the land
dredge deep in dampened clay.
They sow new seed with sun-kissed sweat,
then bow their heads to pray.

Here, they stand together. (husband and pregnant wife)

Roots take hold and settle in,
creeping far and free.
They stake their claim in meager ground –
a dream of what will be.

Here, they hope together.

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What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:

This story was inspired by my family and the pecan tree we often gathered around in my grandmother’s yard. After searching through old photos trying to find its origin, the idea of this story came to me.