For my latest project, I’m editing a non-fiction book of essays, poetry, and art, created by women, for women. During my time as a teacher, and just as a woman, I’ve been listening to people’s stories of strength, and each time thinking: there’s someone out there that needs to hear this. From summoning the emotional strength to love our bodies and ourselves exactly the way we are, or to have to tell your parents you’re pregnant at sixteen, to the physical strength of fighting off an attacker twice your size, or battling through breast cancer like a champ, to the mental strength in overcoming everyday sexism, I AM STRENGTH will feature true stories of everyday superwomen. It will be diverse. It will be intersectional. And best of all, two-thirds of the proceeds from book sales will benefit No Means No Worldwide, whose goal is to create a rape-free world, and Girls Inc., inspiring all girls to be smart, strong, and bold.

I’m looking for some initial funding to help pay the writers for putting in the hard work and sharing their stories, as well as a talented woman graphic designer to create the book cover. There are some rewards for backers including free paperback copies when the book becomes available and a way to dedicate the book to someone—maybe their mother who is battling breast cancer, maybe their sister who is going through a divorce and summoning her emotional strength, or maybe their struggling trans friend who needs to hear supportive stories like the ones this book will feature.

These stories demand to be told. There’s someone on the other side of the world who needs to hear your story to understand they’re not alone. That’s the magic of writing. You can read something from 100 years ago and relate to it. You can write something today that someone will read in 100 years and relate to it. One of the most significant problems we have trying to identify with other people’s plight, whether it’s refugees, immigrants, girls being prevented from getting an education, a woman dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, whatever–there’s no teacher like experience. And if we haven’t experienced these things ourselves, it can be difficult for us to understand. And if we don’t understand, we can’t help–we may not want to help or think it’s even necessary. Here’s the thing though: we can’t all magically wake up inside a woman’s body and understand what she’s going through. So what can we do? Read. Read her story, try to understand what she went through–that’s how we learn to empathize with our fellow humans. That’s how we live lives and experience things we otherwise would never be able to. Tell stories and read stories. It’s that simple. You don’t need any money or fame to write. You just need something to write with and something to write on. You don’t need to be a powerful person to write, but writing can give you power. That’s all I’m trying to do. Give women a platform who might otherwise not have one. Of course, this will only happen if the Kickstarter campaign is successful.

We are currently experiencing a significant global shift concerning feminist issues, with movements like #MeToo increasingly propelling women’s rights to the forefront of mainstream discourse. Every woman has a song of strength to sing, and I AM STRENGTH will help amplify it. Please consider joining us in becoming an integral part of the new conversation on women. who contributes any amount, even just $1, will have their name featured as someone who helped make this worthy project possible. And stay tuned, because after funding is reached, I’ll be sending out submission calls for your essays and poems.

Fellow bloggers, if you find the project worthy I’d greatly appreciate a reblog. Please share with your followers on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumbler, and anywhere else you think people might be interested.

Thank you, and stay strong ❤