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Raphael Harry's avatar

This is a beautiful and necessary read for today. I'm envious of your embroidery skills too. Octavia Butler's words all look prophetic as you rightly pointed out. I'm excited and looking forward to more of your work.

Dara Hartley's avatar

Ahh, thank you! Octavia’s words feel more urgent every year. I’m so glad it resonated — and don’t be envious, you know I’ll happily stitch something for you!

Raphael Harry's avatar

Begins compiling list for potential stitches and hiding from the little one 🙌🏿

Megan Minturn's avatar

This substack & project is so full of hope and gives a grounded, love-filled roadmap forward.

This line echoes for me: “ But what makes her work endure isn’t just that she wrote Black people into the future—it’s that her futures are grounded in very old, very human questions about care, survival, responsibility, and love.”

Thank you for sharing your art; I hope to be able to share these parables for difficult time and life and love via candy hearts one day! (Are they for sale/barter?!)

Dara Hartley's avatar

Megan, this means so much. Thank you for reading so closely. That line is such an anchor for me, too! And yes — I’m thinking about how these might live in the world beyond my studio. Several people have asked if the candy hearts are for sale. I’m considering a limited drop with proceeds going to The Octavia Project, a skills-building collective for teens in Brooklyn! I love their work so much.