Women bare their souls in Shaking Off The Dust

The women came together to encourage each other to write and to share. Usually there was plenty of food and wine and the gatherings took on a party atmosphere, but eventually they buckled down and focused on writing stories from their hearts and souls.

The result is Shaking Off The Dust: Personal Narratives of Triumph, a book in which seven authors share experiences about deeply personal life experiences.

The seven chapter, 219-page book includes essays about mental illness, infertility, near death, childhood trauma, police killing of a relative and an array of other challenging situations that tested the women’s mettle.

“They … decided to share parts of their journeys with each other and with the world,” is how the book is described on their website sistahscribes.com. “Sharing what makes us vulnerable and open to judgment and criticism has not been easy, but it is necessary for our healing. Our desire is that you will be encouraged through reading our stories of survival and triumphing over situations and concerns that held us captive for many years.”

Barbara “Imani” Armstrong of Stone Mountain, one of the co-writers, said the women started working on the project in 2019 after attending a writing retreat. The book was published in fall 2020.

“We all have issues,” said Armstrong, adding that women often don’t tell their complete stories. The process of doing so can “cleanse themselves of their own issues, getting rid of the stuff that holds you back.”

Of the topics covered in the book, Armstrong said, “They are the things that help shape us.”

The other authors, known collectively as Sistah Scribes, are: Angella Vincentie Bramwell, Patricia Desamours, Sheryl M. Johnson, Deanna Parks-Jones, Marcia White Laster and Angela Harrington Rice. Bramwell and White are also DeKalb County residents. Among them are a social worker, professor, minister, educator and real estate agent.

This is Armstrong’s second book, she penned a memoir in 2014 about her life growing up during the Jim Crow era.
Initially Armstrong was working on a piece about religion for Shaking Off The Dust, but it wasn’t well received by the group, some of whom told her it wasn’t personal enough, authentic enough. That’s when she changed courses and wrote about experiences when she was 17 and 21—rape.

Armstrong, 76, said this was the first time she shared those experiences.

Armstrong said she and her co-writers hope to give insight as well as inspiration to those who read their stories as they face their own personal struggles.

“Sometimes [people ] want to read them and see what other people have gone through,” she said.

The book is available through amazon.com and sistahscribes.com.