Asari

My latest Substack for Eclectic Botanica ties the idea of spring cleaning to foraging in early spring. Around the world, there are folk practices of eating the young leaves of plants like cleavers, mugwort, poke, and dandelion in early spring to reenergize sluggish bodies after a winter of heavy eating. Psychic spring cleaning works the same way — it’s all about letting go of the old to make space for the fresh and new. My Spring Cleaning To-Do List: - Eat greens. Cooked or raw. - Open the windows, sweep & mop. Smudge. Get into the corners. Fill your home with fresh air & fresh energy. - Call someone who’s been on your mind, who you haven’t spoken to in a while. - Finish that unfinished project — or throw it out! Photos: plant friends making their spring debut in NYC parks! Violet, mugwort, dandelion, cleavers. #springcleaning #herbalism #dandelion #foraging

RIP our beloved Beans ❤️

A good friend who used to teach asked if I wanted a copy of a poetry anthology from the @teacherswriters program in the class she taught in 2004 to add to our archive. The program for 3rd grade students (8-9 years old) in Brooklyn was led by the writer Melanie Maria Goodreaux. What I love about this poem is the energy. My favorite line is “You know you heard her shout” – the emphasis is playful and surprising. You can tell this young poet really felt what she wrote and that she had as much fun writing it as I have reading it. Here’s the poem… She Got a New Soul I had a friend Who loved sizzling She had a wild soul She set it free She let it go But she got a new soul That was born to be wild You heard her scream You know you heard her shout She shouted Yes! Yes! Yes! You saw her turn blue When she shouted She was lovely With her born-to-be-wild spirit And Yes! Her spirit was pure gold - Kayla, 3rd Grade Each year @teacherswriters reaches 2,000 students in NYC with programs that light them up with the magic of writing. In NY State T&W reaches thousands (7,000+) of students through poetry programs for teens. And the online magazine reaches 31,000 visitors annually — educators who find inspiration to get their students excited about writing. If you believe, like I do, that life needs poetry and that creative writing can be a tool to help students in school and life, please support T&W with a donation today! Every donation helps in this difficult funding environment. Thank you for believing in the power of writing! Donation link in bio for @teacherswriters ! 📝❤️💫

“Their Eyes Were Watching God says joy is our birthright. It reminds me that we are ALL entitled to joy. But to have it, we must choose it . . .” New in the magazine for Banned Books Week: T&W’s very own Asari Beale shares Banned Book Writing Prompts for Zora Neale Hurston’s banned classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Reflecting on how Hurston’s book is a call to choose joy and why this text should be protected, Beale shares classroom-ready writing prompts. Read Beale’s writing prompts for Their Eyes Were Watching God in the magazine at the link in our bio. #BannedBooksWeek #BannedBookWritingPrompts

I started a newsletter on Substack called Eclectic Botanica where I write about things I make and what I make of things. Botanicas are places people go to find tools for physical and spiritual healing, and that’s what I’m trying to do through writing, herbalism, foraging, and just being human in this world of chaos and transformation 💫 So far I’ve written about A.I., creative writing, and roasting sunflower seeds 🌻; digestive aids when the news is hard to stomach 🍎; grief and autumn 🍂 ; and foraging for sassafras in NYC. Sometimes I wonder if it’s silly to start something like this when it feels like the world is on fire and there are so many emergencies. But then I remind myself that every voice of compassion, of joy, of humanity helps to drowned out the voices of hate. Let the voices of love be louder than the voices of hate! Oh - and thank you to my 10 subscribers 😊 There’s a link in my bio if you want to check it out!

Posting in loving memory of my aunt and godmother, Julia McInnis - Titi Julita - she modeled unconditional love as a mother, grandmother, and friend - her presence on this earth will be sorely missed ❤️

Sights from Hudson, NY and the @lit_nys conference… It was so good to gather in solidarity with folks from other literary arts organizations at a time when artists’ voices are needed, more than ever, to do the truth telling! 1) sun going down over Promenade Hill 2) I spoke on a panel - great conversations were had! 3) Saint Winifred holding the sword she was beheaded with 4) some peppers on the walk in front of someone’s house. I guess they had laid the peppers out to dry in the sun?

Finding inspiration in words & ideas from Mass MoCA 1 & 3 Jeffrey Gibson: Power Full Because We’re Different “Pray However to Whatever” “Stay awake and tender” 2 & 4 Alison Pebworth: Cultural Apothecary “Before we can find a cure we must know what ails us” “Americanitis: Enduring 19th C. Causes”

Mulberries and service berries for breakfast - foraged on my morning dog walk in #Harlem NYC. If you’d like to learn about plant identification join me and @robinrosebennett on a Weed Walk in Central Park, Sunday June 29, 1-3pm starting on the North end of the park, near E. 106th Street. (Link to sign up on her bio) Before, the things growing around me were nameless plants. It wasn’t until I started learning about herbalism that I started to recognize individual wild plants by their name and by the wonderful benefits they offer us in terms of nutrition and health. Now - having a dog, I am very careful about any foraging I do in the city (dogs pee Everywhere!), and I also have food forests/food gardens I go to where I know the soil is safe and foraging by the public is encouraged. That said, knowing the plants around me and their medicinal properties has deepened my connection to the planet in a way that brings so much joy and fulfillment in my life. I’ve included pics of plants I use frequently for herbalism that grow around my Harlem neighborhood. Plant pictures: - Hawthorne - Burdock - Plantain - Violet - Mullein (growing out of a rock!) - Dandelion - a bowl of Dandelion from the #bronxfoodway, ready to cook 😍 #urbanforager #foraging #wildcrafting #mulberry #serviceberry

May was a MONTH! Here are a few highlights: 1) Me, some of my T&W colleagues, poets & musicians at the Guggenheim on Rashid Johnson’s Rotunda Stage. 2) Stunning poet Rita Dove (!!!) reading Walt Whitman between the bridges during the @poets_house Bridge Walk 3) Broadway legend André De Shields singing “If You Believe” from The Wiz at the @leapnyc fundraiser 😭 4) @tracedepass performing with musician Stone Chun Shi on the last of 11 events hosted by @teacherswriters at the Guggenheim Making and enjoying Art is a way to discover Truth! If you feel like you want to do something to make a positive difference in this world, please consider making a donation to Teachers & Writers Collaborative (link in the @teacherswriters bio). We are increasing access to the arts in public schools and helping young people discover the power of their voices!

Finally made it to the Superfine exhibit…. Also not to miss is the Jesse Krimes exhibit which is closing soon — the photo doesn’t do justice to the beautiful piece made of 2,000 pebbles on string, each from a prison yard sent by an inmate.

“Today, we are faced with a profound choice. Do we continue with the status quo, marked by pain, disconnection, and division. Or do we choose a different path—one of joy, health, and fulfillment where we turn toward each other instead of away from each other, where we choose love over fear, where we recognize community as the irreplaceable foundation for our well-being? As I finish my tenure as Surgeon General, this is my final prescription, my parting wish for all of us: Choose community.” — Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, 19th & 21st Surgeon General of the United States (January 2025) This is everything I believe in: Community, Service, Purpose and Love. The whole essay is worth a read. Search “parting prescription for America” to find it.