{"product_id":"the-risk-it-takes-to-bloom-on-life-and-liberation-9781250275684","title":"The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA passionate, powerful memoir by a trailblazing Black transgender activist, tracing her life of transformation and her work towards collective liberation.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 2017, Raquel Willis took to the National Women's March podium just after the presidential election of Donald Trump, primed to tell her story as a young Black transgender woman from the South. Despite having her speaking time cut short, the appearance only deepened her commitment to speaking up for communities on the margins. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn in Augusta, Georgia, to Black Catholic parents, Raquel spent years feeling isolated, even within a loving, close-knit family. There was little access to understanding what it meant to be queer and transgender. It wasn't until she went to the University of Georgia that she found the LGBTQ+ community, fell in love, and explored her gender for the first time. But the unexpected death of her father forced her to examine her relationship with herself and those she loved. These years of grief, misunderstanding, and hard-won epiphanies seeped into the soil of her life, serving as fertilizer for growth and allowing her to bloom within. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUpon graduation, Raquel entered a career in journalism against the backdrop of the burgeoning Movement for Black Lives, intersectional feminism going mainstream, and unprecedented visibility of the trans community. After hiding her identity as a newspaper reporter, her increasing awareness of the epidemic of violence plaguing trans women of color and the heightened suicide of trans teens inspired her to come out publicly. Within just a few short years of community organizing in Atlanta, Oakland, and New York, Raquel emerged as one of the most formidable Black trans activists in history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Risk It Takes to Bloom\u003c\/i\u003e, Raquel Willis recounts with passion and candor her experiences straddling the Obama and Trump eras, the possibility of transformation after tragedy, and how complex moments can push us all to take necessary risks and bloom toward collective liberation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e St. Martin's Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/14\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250275684\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.25h x 5.38w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2023 pg. 16\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/28\/2023\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Raquel Willis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43132864331957,"sku":"9781250275684","price":24.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_1096c4e9-1b3a-437b-9941-ee4c01559240.jpg?v=1695135162","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-risk-it-takes-to-bloom-on-life-and-liberation-9781250275684","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}