Happy Juneteenth!

They don’t celebrate Juneteenth in Canada and I didn’t feel very festive after getting soaked by yet another spring squall. But then I went online and so many people were posting positivity—and sharing A Song for Juneteenth, which I appreciated since I’m not that savvy when it comes to making reels with music. Social Justice Books posted an important reminder on Instagram that Black people worked for their own liberation, though many books imply that it was handed to them on a platter by President Lincoln and White Union soldiers. Some Juneteenth posts leave our book out altogether since it’s not a traditional narrative that explains the origins of the holiday. That’s okay—a few years ago we had just one or two books about Juneteenth and now kids, parents, and educators have got plenty of choices.

It took me a few days to recover from my NYC trip and I leave for Toronto/Chicago in under a week. I’ve been in Montreal for one month and I can’t say that my French has improved. Trying to navigate government websites and the DMV hasn’t been easy but I’ve muddled through somehow. Today I paid over $200 to see a doctor just to get two prescriptions refilled but my application for Quebec healthcare was approved (starting August 1), and I’m grateful for that. I’m only eligible if I stay in the province for six months, though, so I hope not to need a doctor again until I know where I’ll be heading in September. Applying for healthcare means I was automatically registered to vote here, and the census taker knocked on my door the other evening. It took a while to explain my “in-between” status but interacting with the government in these ways has made me feel very Canadian. This is the first time in decades that I’m not living as an immigrant! I still feel like an outsider or as my father once said: “a stranger in the family.” I’m back in my homeland but I’m still on the margins with my “foreign credentials.” My Montreal friend and publicist has forced me to reconnect with my past—she reached out to my alma mater, which isn’t far from Montreal, and even my elementary school. Will they care that I’ve come back? Does it matter that I have new books if they aren’t published here in Canada? I still don’t believe I have a future as a writer here but I did join the Quebec Writers Federation and will try to connect with local authors.

I’ve made a few blunders with the Huguenot book so now I have to adjust my expectations. I didn’t factor in the barcode, which makes a flip book difficult. Not impossible, but now I’m doing two versions so no reader feels like they got shafted. It’s going to be tight—final art comes in on the 28th and I’m aiming for a June 30th pub date! Wish me luck…