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I’m so pleased that this book found a home with AK Press. It’s been wonderful working with Charles, Zach, and Suzanne. I appreciate their skill and dedication to the values the press upholds. I’m honored to be in their company and the company of other AK Press authors.

Thanks are due to all those who read or heard my essays and stories about social life over the twenty-plus years that I’ve been publishing and performing. They’ve taught me how to write, what’s important, and how to compassionately reveal the things that I may see a bit earlier and a bit more vividly than some.

Thank you to Dr. Lynda Dickson, who was the first to teach me to see the social world vividly, via a sociological lens, and to introduce me to writers whose work was not only rigorous but accessible. We met in 1987. She was the first black-woman-scholar I learned from in person and her persistent ability to be all three of those things in every interaction was an invaluable model for my own life. Our discussions over the years, though they’ve become less frequent, informed how I think about intersecting oppressions as both analogous and different. She has also influenced how I argue—hopefully—with humility, love, and a lot of curiosity intact.

Thank you to all of those who read and offered comments on early versions of this manuscript, fully and in pieces. Carol McGrath, Rebecca Rubenstein, Linda Bacon, and others. I appreciated being challenged by astute rejections though I also believe it’s taken way too long for this book to come to print. As a culture, we are so recently speaking openly about the intersections of body identities and how appearance influences our lives. I’ve been speaking and writing about these things for years, doing my part, but wow, there is much to do and I’m so grateful that younger writers are already finding traction for their work on these themes. Go, darlings, go, go!

For my part, I’ll continue to hone my skill and effectiveness at writing and creativity. In some ways they are separate pursuits, wedded in service of expressing an actionable vision. I hope all people become liberated in ways we can’t even yet name. I pledge myself to do better and offer gratitude for all who help me see my way, though growth can be challenging. May we come to see discomfort and apprehension as part of the package marked freedom.

I accept that my work fails and I will keep doing my part. As an example, my writer-thinker-friend, Sonya Renee Taylor, pointed out that the phrasing of a certain point in the introduction to this book caused her pain. Could I not find another way to accomplish the same meaning, without re-traumatizing the black women who read that line? I’m sorry to say, I could not. I’m not that good yet. I’m committed to creatively discussing painful topics while inspiring hope and illuminating ability. With practice, I hope to do it more consistently. I am so grateful for the honesty and discussion she offered to prompt my effort.

Lastly, writers need time, space, and community in which to write. Some of this book was written at the Djerassi Writing Retreat, some at Dickinson House and some at CSU Summer Arts. The rest was written in my living room, where I thank the ancestors, the sea, land, and sky for the life I have every day.

To read my books and essays or attend my performances and retreats, visit kimberlydark.com.