Black Woman Sabbatical

Abstract

This poetic inquiry explores rage, rest, and refusal as everyday practices of survival and joy for Black women. It considers the paradox of being both needed and neglected, where self-preservation becomes a radical act of care. Rage is reframed as generative, pairing with rest and joy to affirm Black women’s creative refusals as rigorous modes of inquiry. The work underscores the tension between silence and testimony, private preservation and public witness, and enacts a radical re-centering that refuses to carry the weight of institutions or publics that do not reciprocate.