A Note from Habeebah on Rest

“Black girl, we’ll leave this fight to someone else for now.

You can close your eyes, let you hair down.

Breathe in, breathe out.”

Tasha, Lullaby

Greetings Beloved Friends,

Have you been resting? I hope so.

Black women have been needing to pause and rest for quite some time. Long before Vice President Harris campaigned for and lost the November 2024 presidential election, there were signs that our souls had grown weary. The reasons are centuries-old and the time has finally come. We must rest.

More than a year ago, I recognized that I needed to take time to rest and after much reflection, I realized that in order to do so I needed to pause professionally. After more than twenty years with an organization that I care deeply about, and have been leading for the past six years, I made the decision to resign from my position on June 30, 2025. I shared this news with my Board of Directors and staff in September and have since been preparing myself and the agency for my transition.

I am in awe of my own courage as I continue on this path toward self-preservation. I realize too, there is a certain privilege that I was able to exercise as I made this decision. I think about my own mother who for many years worked two jobs in order to make ends meet for our family and recognize that my foremothers’ sacrifices have made it possible for me to be sovereign over my time, my body, and my life in this moment.

I am also grateful for Black women who have been calling me to rest through their work, writing, and living examples. From Tricia Hersey, The Nap Bishop, who helped me realize that exhaustion among the descendants of enslaved people is a core aspect of our transgenerational trauma to Audre Lorde who so powerfully declared that caring for herself was an act of both self-preservation and political warfare. And there are the sisters and elders in my life personally who are teaching me the ways of rest.

I pray that we continue to acknowledge the urgent call to rest and are bold in claiming the time and space we need to do so as we start the new year.

What will rest look like for you in 2025? I’d love to know.

Blessings,

Habeebah

January 1, 2025