Blended: Perspectives on Belonging, a Participatory Notebook

by Velda Thomas

Blended- Perspectives on Belonging / A Participatory Notebook is Velda Thomas’ first book from her publishing company, Stardust Press. A poetic, deeply personal body of soul work, Blended draws the reader through explorations of race, family, identity, trauma, and generational healing with truly honest vulnerability and insight. Peppered with questions and blank pages to invite the reader to process and reflect as collaborator with the text, Blended challenges, invites depth, and inspires interconnectedness with the human condition.

Blended is a book that can be opened at any page to allow Velda’s words to gently work the edges of old and new belief systems, or be read cover to cover to experience a full journey of healing. Filled with Velda's dynamic black and white linocut prints, Blended is a timely, creative, powerfully beautiful work of art.

148 pages, Paperback

Published August 11, 2021

Reviews

[Susan L. Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although Blended isn't an anti-racist book, per se, it offers an opportunity to "feel in" to the author's experience as a Brown woman and, as such, supports learning in a manner that is inviting and welcoming. I found this book to be a safe place to explore inner reflexes on topics of race, identity, and belonging. It's a beautifully written and powerful compilation of essays and poems based on the author's experience growing up "blended" in a white-oriented culture.

At the end of each essay and poem, there are thought-provoking questions for inner exploration. I've read Blended once from my white perspective, and I'm now applying empathy (as best I can) and reading Velda Thomas's book as if I was a person of color. The emotions evoked are powerful!