"Birthing Butterflies aligns the metamorphosis of butterflies, a symbol of transformation and resurrection, with nineteenth-century Black enslaved mothers. Like a cocoon, their wombs nurtured and birthed memories that sustained Black life. Just as butterflies take flight from the confines of their self-built shells, these poems explore how Black enslaved mothers inhabited Black love, joy, agony, freedom, and rebirth. They soared above the systemic structures of slavery set on diminishing their human dignity and dismantling their communal regard." -- Publisher.