Hello Loves

It’s been a year or so hasn’t since I written on the blog. Navigating the past year emotionally took its toll at times and to be honest I wasn’t feeling motivated to write. Until I received an email from Jamila Rowser from Black Josie Press. It was a press release/Kickstarter update for their latest launch: The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town.

The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town is an autobiographical comic that’s dedicated to exploring the intersection of Blackness and mental health, created by the award-winning cartoonist Robyn Smith (DC Comics' Nubia: Real One (written by L.L. McKinney) and Black Josei Press' Wash Day (written by Jamila Rowser)

The comic was originally self-published by Robyn in 2016 and was named one of the best short-form comics of 2016 by The Comics Journal. Black Josei Press is reprinting the 32-page comic which features a gorgeous new watercolor cover and bonus process pages.

In The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town, Robyn Smith recounts her experience being one of the only Black people in a rural Vermont town and how that affected her mental health. Her delicate graphite illustrations and poetic words take the reader on a journey through three chapters: Sad, Angry, and Black. Being a Black girl in a majority white space is to be ignored but constantly observed. Robyn examines this experience of being simultaneously invisible and hyper-visible with such honesty and self-awareness.

WOW!

After supporting their Kickstarter (ends tomorrow), I felt inspired and wanted to do something I haven’t done close to a year: A REVIEW.

The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town is split into three sections: ‘Sad’, ‘Angry’, ‘Black”. I was impressed how the commentary unfortunately was universal for black and brown women. I grew up in the projects but felt so isolated being the only black girl in an honors class, experiencing similar microaggressions from my junior high school classmates that Robyn was experiencing in a small town. I had no clue what a microaggression was until I was in my first semester at FIT experiencing the same isolation, I felt in my jhs.

In the ‘Angry’ section, the word “n*gger’ came up. Robyn nailed the different scenarios that black people have to deal with, non-black people casually saying using the excuse “it was in a song” “you guys say it” etc. Ummm not true in my house it was and still is “the n word” I’m grateful I was taught that it’s not a word to say casually even when black people say it (that’s a whole over blog post). I regret when I was around former non-black friend’s that were that said “the n word” using those excuses I would try to brush it off to fit in and not cause a conflict. Shame on me….

The last portion ‘Black’ resonated with me the most especially with my experiences in 2020 but towards the end of it coming to a more acceptance of who I am. I’m happy Robyn talks about this in the last chapter (don’t want to give it away support the Kickstarter). It’s feelings that a lot of Black and brown women experience. Our feelings are valid we shouldn’t have to fight for the simplest of things and be seen as angry or demanding. We struggle, we get sad, we get angry because we are trying to survive, then we accept ourselves and start to thrive.

Reading “The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town” was therapeutic for me!

As we are dealing with many traumatic anniversaries coming up. I think this is a comic that should be on the bedside table for every black and brown girl. Robyn reminded me that I am not alone in my struggles and heck inspired me to write again. And I’m thankful for that.

The Kickstarter is sending SOON (33 hours to go), please support here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamilarowser/the-saddest-angriest-black-girl-in-town

Follow Robyn Smith here , Twitter, and Instagram.

Follow Black Josie Press here

Buy Nubia: Real One: here

Kos