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The Risk It Takes to Bloom
On Life and Liberation
Brief Description
One of TIME magazine's 2025 WOMEN OF THE YEAR WINNER of the LGBTQ+ Nonfiction, 2024 Best Book Awards Born in Augusta, Georgia, to devout Black Catholic parents, Raquel Willis grew up yearning for belonging in a world that offered little language for queerness and transness. Though...
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September 2026
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The Risk It Takes to Bloom
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Description
One of TIME magazine's 2025 WOMEN OF THE YEAR
WINNER of the LGBTQ+ Nonfiction, 2024 Best Book Awards
Born in Augusta, Georgia, to devout Black Catholic parents, Raquel Willis grew up yearning for belonging in a world that offered little language for queerness and transness. Though surrounded by love, she felt isolated—adrift between faith, expectation, and a truth she couldn't yet name. At the University of Georgia, she discovered her first glimpses of liberation: community, love, and a space to explore her gender. Then, the sudden death of her father forced her to reckon with grief, identity, and legacy. These hard-won epiphanies fertilized the soil for her to bloom.
After entering journalism—and concealing her truth to survive—Raquel was galvanized by the epidemic of violence against trans women of colour, rising suicides of trans youth, and the erasure of Black trans power. She came out publicly, choosing truth over safety, and stepped into the work of collective liberation.
From the streets of Atlanta to Oakland and New York, Raquel became one of the leading voices in a new generation of Black trans activism and feminism. Her story is a testament to the risk, and the power, of blooming against the odds.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781250406040
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 09 June 2026
Country: United States
Imprint: Saint Martin's Griffin,U.S.
Illustration: Includes 4 black-and-white photographs
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 135.0mm
Height: 208.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 384
About the Author
RAQUEL WILLIS (she/her) is an award-winning writer, activist, and media strategist dedicated to Black transgender liberation. She has been the communications director for Ms. Foundation for Women, executive editor of Out magazine, and national organizer for the Transgender Law Center. Her writing has been published in Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619- 2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha Blain, and within many media outlets. The Risk It Takes to Bloom is her first book.
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