The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation

Journalist Willis debuts with an amiable chronicle of her transformation as a Black trans woman and her activism on behalf of the trans community. Willis recounts navigating racism and homophobia in her middle-class community in Augusta, Ga., in the 2000s, and the pain of coming out as gay to her Catholic family. It was not until after she found a queer community at the University of Georgia and began performing in drag contests that she felt empowered to come out to her friends and family as a trans woman and medically transition. After graduation, she worked as a journalist at the Monroe Chronicle in Georgia and became concerned about the epidemic of violence against Black trans women across the country, motivating her to reveal her trans identity at work and in professional circles (her colleagues were unaware that she had transitioned) and organize trans activism within the Black Lives Matter movement. She has since become one of the nation’s leading trans activists, coming to prominence after she gave speech at the 2017 National Women’s March in Washington, D.C. This pleasantly conversational memoir mixes somber activism and youthful levity, combining glittering details of a buoyant social life with sorrowful reflections on violence against trans people. It’s an inspiring account. (Nov.)