People are listening.

A Gentle Landing w/ Rose J. Percy

paper plane thoughts for the world beyond my purview

I didn't start my podcast with the understanding that I was speaking to anyone other than Black women. I come from a place of being exhausted, depleted, & emptied of my motivation for a lot of things – including the seminary degree that I am almost done with.

I used to preach at church full of nice people who reminded me constantly that my voice was valued. In that setting, I was introduced to the habitual practice of liturgy.

Liturgy ran through the life of a community, & was important to our Sunday gatherings. It was the only time you could hear a call & response from anyone other than the other Black woman in the room. I would stand in the pulpit, often with some of my most vulnerable words, to receive the coldness of the room & the coldness of the time spent waiting to hear an “amen” that did not come. Sometimes, I would be pulled aside after church & someone would tell me how my words were hitting them.

I quickly learned that laughter was the only “response” felt immediately, so I incorporated a joke or two to feel accompaniment.

When I was a kid, there were several times when I stopped talking. Several times when I felt that words didn't matter – my words didn't matter. I thought my words got me in trouble… At least when spoken out loud. I wrote poetry on paper & put them away for me and only me.

So I am amazed by the growth of my Podcast among the wider audience. I wrote “Dear Soft Black Woman” at the beginning of my affirmations because I was speaking to the soft Black woman in me, & those who identified with her. I want to continue to honor her experience.

As a kid, I remember making paper planes with my brothers. One of my brothers, the second oldest, made the best ones. They always turned out great & flew the farthest. He would say the secret was making sure you apply pressure to the folded area as if to sharpen it. But a paper plane was often only its best the first time it flew. It would get banged up in the front, the zig-zagged paper would fall sooner & sharper.

Paper planes don’t go very far (& they certainly can’t take you anywhere), but with a gentle hand & a gentle landing, the short-lived experience of making something out of nothing can be exhilarating.

So let’s see how far this goes.

Wishing you a gentle landing,

Rose J. Percy