An Introduction to Fiction
It is no coincidence that this issue, that these stories, were published in mid-June. June for Black folk has a particular indelible significance that is difficult for this poet to pen. June is a month that means freedom. That means dignity. And as I selected this distinguished collection of fiction, I could not help but think back to that very first Juneteenth and wondered what stories were told. I bet they were as dazzling as the ones told here, in this very first TriQuarterly issue celebrating Blackness.
I also thought about how long it took us all to get here. And why that was. And how we Black writers, us poets, the artists, my people have always made this country great. I thought about how that fact is so often disregarded. So as I sat on my Memphis porch, smoking and looking out into a June evening, I thought that it is high time we celebrate us.
It is the honor of my life to present to you fiction by Amber Officer-Narvasa, Kat Lewis, Amina Gautier, and Rasheeda Saka. May these stories cause you to walk out of your home, out into a June evening and cigarette in hand, may y'all look up at the heavens and question your place in it.
