A longer and edited version of what I posted on Facebook:

I was raised Catholic, but we didn't go to church often. My earliest memory of the Pope was seeing him on TV when he visited Chicago and my dad said something that my four-year-old ears sounded like, “That’s your father.” Confused was an understatement. Years later I asked my parents to send me CCD classes so I could have my first communion only because it felt like all my friends were doing it. This meant that when I did go, I was a year behind. And that really sucked. Ultimately I dropped out of CCD class because I missed Saturday morning cartoons. I once I asked my mom about being Catholic and why we didn’t go to church and she responded that the Pope didn't want her to use birth control pills.

Pope Francis was controversial for conservatives, because he kept challenging us to show up for each other:

• He spoke against building walls to keep immigrants out of countries, including the USA.

• He had a focus on uplifting the poor.

• He welcomed LGBTQ+ folks, but still with rules. He walked the fine line of approving of blessing a gay marriage, but not to consider it a sacrament.

• He condemned the War on Gaza: "I appeal to the warring parties: call a cease-fire, release the hostages, and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!"

• He was a man of immense faith who embraced science enough to acknowledge climate change and demand we do something about it.

• He even called people out for not getting vaccinated.

He had failings like not recognizing that we cannot achieve economic justice without reproductive justice, which includes access to abortion and surrogacy.

Pope Francis went out telling JDV how wrong he and this administration is. Like a fucking boss. Cause I am sure he knew he had little time left on this plane of existence and he used it to tell JDV to kick rocks. To tell him how piss poor of a Catholic he is. That in this history books, JDV will be the villain.

I consider myself a recovering Catholic. I am named after St. Veronica, who stopped and helped Jesus as he carried the cross. Churches do feel like reverent spaces to me, but the rules the humans have made in those spaces are oppressive. Boiling things down to what Jesus taught about love and kindness is what I take from my limited time in the Church. Which is why I can say thank you to Pope Francis for pushing the Church to love more and hate less. To push us to love more and oppress less. Here’s hoping that the Church elects a new Pope who can continue to push the Church to live up to what Jesus wanted for us.

My expertise is in how organizations work or don’t work. And frankly changing things from the inside, even for someone who is Pope can be a hard nut to crack. Long standing organizations thrive because the bones know how to operate no matter who is calling the shots. Not to say change can’t happen, but the “this is how we have always done it” vibes is strong. And yes, this vibe is what a lot of us are hoping will save this complicated and flawed country. Rest well, Pope Francis.

How I am Persisting - Books

In One Way Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, we get Najeeba as the middle-aged warrior many women have been demanding. This is a follow-up to She Who Knows and part of Okorafor’s 2010 classic, Who Fears Death’s universe.

I have loaned Who Fears Death so often my book is fairly worn. It has been optioned for TV. It is moving. It was also 15 years ago. What does a reader do when they are asked to revisit a universe that is more like a fond memory than actual knowledge? After the first chapter of One Way Witch, I thought I should go back to reread Who Fears Death. But I have deadlines, so I kept going. Thankfully the author was in town for a kick ass event with the American Writers Museum. I asked Okorafor which order people should read the books. Happy to say that she agreed with me — order of publication.

But sure, read it in chronological order if you wish. Just get yourself to One Way Witch.

Najeeba is a middle-aged woman who has just about everything taken from her. Her husband is dead. Her daughter died righting the wrongs of the world (sorry, slight spoiler?), but she still remembers The Before Times. This is when she looks inward and returns to the magic she wields. The magic that she kept tight inside as she mothered and was a good wife. Free from those structures and cultural obligations, Najeeba seeks to push her own boundaries and fulfill her long-neglected potential.

This is also a tale of revenge and what one woman can accomplish when she has nothing else to lose. Najeeba’s teacher calls her reckless more times than I can remember - I wish I had kept count. But for me, this was her stepping into her own power. Outside of norms and expectations.

If you are like me, in that middle age space where it really is just you against the world, you may also cheer her on as she learns to be most powerful, even with the stumbles, and as she learns to love again.

Okorafor has plans for one more book in this universe and given the ending of One Way Witch, I am eager to see where our hero with all her beautiful flaws lands.

One Way Witch is out on April 29th.
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