Testify! The Personal and Political Power of Crafting Essays manifests as a bold, intimate, and transformative writing workshop rooted in the radical tradition of Black women truth-tellers. This course invites writers to explore the sacred act of testifying—telling our stories not just for ourselves, but as a form of resistance, remembrance, and collective liberation.

Over four weeks, we will examine how personal narratives can disrupt dominant narratives, reclaim silenced voices, and spark social change. We’ll read and be inspired by the sharp brilliance of Audre Lorde, the tender teachings of bell hooks, the fierce vulnerability of Roxane Gay, and the intellectual precision of Christina Sharpe—alongside additional texts by contemporary Black women thinkers, poets, and culture workers.

This is a space for those who have something to say—and are ready to testify with courage. Whether you're writing about race, gender, faith, fatness, grief, joy, or survival, you'll be guided to mine your lived experience and connect it to the broader political and cultural landscape. Through writing prompts, close readings, group discussion, and communal encouragement, you will sharpen your voice, deepen your analysis, and generate new work that speaks truth to power. You will be affirmed, inspired, and emboldened to share your truth.

Writers of all levels are welcome. This course is especially for Black women—and all those who believe that the personal is political, and that storytelling can change the world. Come ready to testify. We’re writing essays, but we’re also writing our way to liberation.

All class meetings will be held via Zoom. The link to join your Zoom classroom will be provided on the morning of your class. Please check spam folders if you do not receive an email confirmation upon registration. For more information on how to download or use Zoom, please click here.

Meet Your Instructor:
Desiree McCray

Desiree McCray emerges as a Chicago-born writer, artistic activist, womanist scholar, and prophetic scribe whose work lives at the intersection of race, gender, faith, and culture. She is the author of My Sisters Look Like God: A Womanist Manifesto of Poetry (Abode Press, 2024), Send A Refreshing: Poetic Prayers of an Intercessor (2023), and Hope Among Other Foods: A Concoction of Fat Girl Poetry (2021). Her forthcoming choreopoem, Black Girl, Brown Soul, will be released by Jamii Publishing in 2025, with additional work forthcoming from Foglifter Press.

Desiree’s essays, poems, and reflections appear in Black Feminist Collective, Femme Literati, Genre: Urban Arts, Untenured, Presbyterian Outlook, The Seventh Wave, and more. With a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, Desiree is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, focusing on Public Theology and Creative Writing.

Her writing invites truth-telling, healing, and transformation—and she is passionate about equipping others to do the same. Whether through testimony, poetry, or essay, Desiree believes our stories are sacred and powerful tools for liberation.

.

Course Takeaways

• Learn how to craft personal essays that connect lived experience to broader cultural and political themes
• Explore the power of testimony as a tool for truth-telling, healing, and resistance
• Study and be inspired by the voices of Black women writers like Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Roxane Gay, and Christina Sharpe
• Develop a writing practice rooted in honesty, vulnerability, and liberation.

Course Expectations

• Receive supportive feedback through workshopping and build confidence in your unique writerly voice
  
• Leave with a drafted personal essay and tools to revise and expand your work beyond the class.

Course Skeleton

• Week 1: Testimony as Truth-Telling
  Explore personal narrative as political act. We’ll read Audre Lorde and begin to unpack how our stories can unsettle systems and speak truth to power. Writing prompt + discussion.
• Week 2: The Body as Archive
  Using works by Roxane Gay and Christina Sharpe, we’ll reflect on how the body holds memory, trauma, and resistance. Students will craft vignettes that bridge personal experience and cultural context.
• Week 3: Writing Through the Wound
  bell hooks guides us as we explore writing from places of pain, healing, and revelation. We’ll discuss revision as a form of reclaiming and sharpening voice. Workshop student pieces focusing on affirming each student's voice and building confidence.
• Week 4: The Essay as Anthem
  We’ll look at how to structure powerful essays and shape them into offerings for community and change. I will share some places to submit their work. Final group workshop + celebration of student work

We offer full refunds for cancellation with written notice up until 7 days before your class start date. From 6 days to more than 24 hours before class begins, we offer a 25% refund. If you drop a class less than 24 hours before the class begins or after it has started, you are ineligible for a refund.