Bless the Blood

＂When Walela is diagnosed at twenty-three with advanced stage blood cancer, they’re suddenly thrust into the unsympathetic world of tubes and pills, doctors who don’t use their correct pronouns, and hordes of ＂well-meaning＂ but patronizing people offering unsolicited advice as they navigate rocky personal relationships and share their story online. But this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from another realm. Walela’s diagnosis becomes a catalyst for their self-realization. As they fill out forms in the insurance office in downtown Los Angeles or travel to therapy in wealthier neighborhoods, they begin to understand that cancer is where all forms of their oppression intersect: Disabled. Fat. Black. Queer. Nonbinary＂--

Walela Nehanda is a nonbinary cultural worker, stem cell transplant and cancer survivor, and mental health advocate. They have been featured in Teen Vogue, the Guardian, Nylon, Vice, i-D Magazine, SELF, Afropunk, and inStyle. They have performed nationwide, at universities like UCLA and Penn State, and bookstores and stages like Busboys and Poets and Da Poetry Lounge.