Freedom is a molecular flex. I am a free black man whose body is a testament to surviving unspeakable terror. I am a free black man, and although my memories are ancient, I am a map of new dreams; a cartography of a smooth-and-swift-with-the-scalpel imagination.
I am a free black man who writes as surrender and soulwork; as tongue-clicking, bomb-femme torch song; as mourning prayer; as metamorphosis.
Reader, thank you for bearing witness to each bowel-deep howl and hallelujah that follows.
Thank you for honouring me.
With love,
Diriye
Image by DIRIYE OSMAN and JAROSLAV SCHOLTZ