Above: Selfie taken at my 2020 polling place, a church in Rome, Georgia. I’m grateful that I’ll be placing my run-off votes at an Atlanta school.
When Halloween came this year, I draped a red hood across my shoulders, literally cloaking the growing mass of cells in my left armpit. A few days later, I made what turned into a 5-hour round-trip to go vote in the general election. I pulled up at a church within an hour of the polls closing.
Since I live in Georgia, the following days brought no regrets. The senate races of Ossoff vs. Perdue and Warnock vs. Loeffler advanced to run-offs, and the state flipped “blue” for Biden. I felt for the first time in my adult life that my vote actually counted.
Meanwhile, more waves of cannabis reform swept the nation, and Oregon legalized the use of “magic mushrooms” in therapeutic settings while decriminalizing all drugs.
Suddenly, the work that I’ve done as an advocate for responsible adult use seemed to matter more as well.
I learned about many of these victories from within the walls of Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital.
Sharing a namesake with the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, from which I graduated in 2004, Grady Memorial Hospital rises up from the center of Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. Old and grand, it stands watch over a bar called Church, rapper Killer Mike’s Swag Shop, the city’s vibrant and diverse Municipal Market, Georgia State University and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
Many of us who grew up in Georgia received warnings against seeking care at Grady. Fortunately, I’m among those who see through these false fears, seemingly rooted in concerns over the hospital’s “inner-city” location and the largely Black population it serves.
So far, I’ve received excellent care at Grady. I’m also anticipating that I’ll receive a great deal more. Right now, I’m awaiting details about my next cancer treatment steps and surgery. I’ve begun taking a hormone blocker, and I’ve been navigating the rather nerve-wracking landscape of weekly biopsies, follow-ups and scans.
While this has hindered my ability to fulfill all my professional and parental obligations as smoothly as I’d hope, it has also opened my world up even wider to the concept of health equity, and I have at least finally finished my manuscript Queen of Wands.
Formerly SOVEREIGN: Recovery Poems, the newly titled book project is doubling as a fundraiser for my medical costs. When I started the project last year, I set a goal of raising $9k USD. I’m now seeking to raise the remaining $2500 USD that stands between what I’ve already raised and my goal. More information on this will be available in a special Grey Way edition.
For now, I’m very happy with how the book has shifted—from being a collection of writing about my personal agency as a cancer to patient to being a dynamic work of art about health equity in the COVID era. It now feels simultaneously broader-reaching and more personal.
In sickness and health, I’m always writing. Highlights from my latest work follow, along with some of my favorite discoveries. Should you wish to reach me, please contact kellilynngrey@gmail.com.
The Seed: Cultivating Consciousness
My Words from Oct./Nov./Dec. 2020
5 Ways to Become a Conscious Cannabis Advocate, Healthline
Cannabis, A Sacrament for All, Inside the Jar
Access for All Requires Native Justice, Eloquent Magazine
3 Things I Finally Understand about My Ex-husband, P.S. I Love You
Khan Academy is an essential homeschooling resource, especially for math, Mashable
Embracing Life While in Holding, BAMF Mag
The Grey Rose Garden:
Evidence from across the internet of hope blooming in the dark
My Real-Time Thoughts about Being the Other Woman by Shannon Ashley
SEAL Team 6 Were My Neighbors by Hannah Lane
Meeting the Mother of the Girl my Son Killed by Viki Hines
Some ways for you to shine your light this holiday season
Make a difference via Last Prisoner Project’s letter writing drive!
Tell President-Elect Biden: I Demand a Pro-Marijuana Reform Attorney General
For the holidays, support small businesses that give back. Some of my favorites are Witch of the Woods & Bebe Vaudou.
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