I performed at Juneteenth this year. I performed at an open mic and did a free-style on my birthday that the audience LOVED the day after my mother’s funeral. Both of those performances were great! But this one was an extra challenge because the room was heavy after one of Oakland’s own violence interrupters was caught in a shoot out at a gas station the day before my presentation so everyone’s hearts were heavy. This year the Bay Area has seen an increase in homicides so I began this one with breath and I was more vulnerable than usual about why I’m in the healing words business.