Description
On |(Un-)Becoming is a collection of stories, reflections, forgivenesses and offerings rooted in conversations and conflicts with FreeQuency’s mother, chosen family & other selves. The anti disciplinary project liberates the concept of “transitioning” from the realm of Westernized notions of gender and expands|explores|explodes the concept of (un)becoming in relationship to international Blackness, migration|movement, geographic and corporeal displacement, spiritual|mental health and the ties between personal and communal transformation.
Praise for FreeQuency
This work is a gorgeous ode to family and the parts of ourselves determined to keep growing on purpose.
— J Mase III, author of White Folks Be Trippin’
On |(Un-)Becoming is a generous collection. FreeQuency embodies liberation. What one is capable of when leaning into the vibrations of the universes they carry within themselves. May we not bend but take shape within the beauties we don’t possess but beckon us inward: the photographs, the songs, the identities, and expressions of gender. A Black Unicorn that our Lorde rains blessings upon.
— Gabriel Ramirez, poet and teaching artist
This work is a ride that repeatedly makes my stomach drop and fills me with that wild combination of fear, excitement, wonder, and possibility. And awe. I find more space for me to feel. To call this a book either expands that word beyond the way if it’s in our mouths/on the page or yearns to be named something we have never seen before.
— Sage Crump, cultural strategist
illuminating, daring, and unapologetically foundational, (On |Un-)Becoming: Poems is a blueprint for those of us navigating multiplicities, be they identities, genders, or artistries. melding genre and voice to reintroduce and reframe our understanding of who they are, FreeQuency|Mwende|all the selves invites us into their inner world that looks a lot like mine and others who are genderfluid. that n*gga pushes the boundaries to ask, ‘who are you, why are you and how many yous are there?’ and demands that we claim each life free of construct and restriction. you owe it to yourself to read this work and integrate its truth into your being, not just for you but for others who wish to know you. the future is genderless, genreless, and always has been, and that is where this offering belongs.
— Princess McDowell
About FreeQuency
Mwende “FreeQuency” Katwiwa is a Kenyan, Immigrant, Shoga|Queer storyteller, speaker & feeler. The 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, a 2017 TEDWomen speaker and ranked 3rd at the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam, FreeQuency is a… MORE