“What I want readers to think of when they see grown women is a process of achieving, it’s never really achieved.”
- -Sarai Johnson
Tracing four generations of remarkable Black women, Sarai Johnson follows the family across the decades as they grapple with motherhood and daughterhood, inherited trauma, and the deeply ingrained wounds that divide them while they attempt to redefine happiness and healing for themselves. Exploring how race, gender, and class can influence familial relationships, and how pain—and hope—can be handed down from mother to daughter,
LISTEN
In this episode Lissa and Bukata talk with author Sarai Johnson about her debut novel, Grown Women (Harper Collins 2024). Join us in this lively and thoughtful conversation about what it means to move on—or not move on—from trauma. What it means to ask for forgiveness, what true forgiveness means, how anger can manipulate our relationships, and what happens after the trauma and how it travels through bloodlines.
GO DEEPER
Author Johnson reads an excerpt about mother-daughter hair rituals followed by conversation with Lissa and Bukata about memories about Blue Magic. Learn more …
Lissa quotes author and healer Resmaa Menakem: “Resmaa teaches us trauma undealt with is trauma transferred.” Listen to BMR Episode #59 and learn more about Resmaa in his conversation with Lissa on Black Market Reads
The influence of the Harlem Renaissance is woven throughout Grown Women. Learn more…
In Grown Women, Evelyn – mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, owns and restores a home central to the Harlem Renaissance. Through Evelyn, author Johnson introduces us to Georgia Douglas Johnson and Gwendolyn Bennett.
Georgia Douglas Johnson was one of the most well-known Black female writers and playwrights of her time. Known for writing most about love and womanhood, Douglas Johnson’s published works touched many and were featured in the most widely-read Black publications of the twentieth century. In addition to being an active participant in the New Negro Movement, her Washington, D.C. home was also a gathering place for other members of the Black literati to connect and create.
Poet, columnist, artist, and fiction writer Gwendolyn Bennett is considered by many to have been one of the youngest leaders of the Harlem Renaissance and a strong advocate for racial pride and the rights of African American women. Heroine of the Harlem Renaissance and Beyond presents key selections of her published and unpublished writings and artwork in one volume.
WATCH
In this episode we share a 1958 excerpt from Langston Hughes – “The Weary Blues”. Read the lyrics here and enjoy the full recording here:
ENJOY!
Bukata Hayes, Lissa Jones and Sarai Johnson recording in studio at iDream.tv
Our production team for this episode includes co producers/ Lissa Jones and Edie French, co-host/Bukata Hayes, technical director/Paul Auguston, The Voice/Yo Derek, and our artist of inspiration/Ta-coumba T. Aiken. We thank Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota for supporting On Health focusing on the intersection of health, race, and culture.
Black Market Reads: On Health is a collaboration with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, as part of Blue Cross’ long-term commitment to improving the health of Minnesota communities and ensuring that all people have opportunities to live the healthiest lives possible.