Stand in My Window: Meditations on Home and How We Make It [Hardback]

"Home, LaTonya Yvette has learned, is not only the physical space we occupy, but also a source of comfort, grounding and transformation. It is a reflection of communal care; a place that can hold and nurture our dreams. In Stand in My Window: Meditationson Home and How We Make It, Yvette shares the important lessons she's learned about creating a meaningful home, and in doing so invites readers to explore how they can do the same. In essays that examine the process of creating spaces that express one's inner joy, Yvette shows how we can make meaning from both the places we've been and the objects that fill our lives. A magnolia tree in the backyard of her Brooklyn apartment at risk of being destroyed; the comforting smell of palo santo wafting through ahallway; a clothesline that recalls the resiliency of ancestors; the childhood eviction notices that prompted deeper explorations of belonging years later-these images and more serve as portals into Yvette's most foundational lessons in love, loss, family, and self-care. In short: home-making. Sharing her design philosophy and the very personal experiences that helped forge it, coupled with beautiful original photographs, in each thoughtfully designed chapter Yvette walks readers through the process of creating a meaningful space by taking stock of one's inner world, personal history, and unconscious narratives about how-and where-we think we should be. At its heart, Stand in My Window teaches us that home truly is what you make of it-in mind, body, soul, and in the lovingly curated spaces we can build for ourselves anywhere"--

Through essays with stunning photography, the beloved multimedia storyteller and author of Woman of Color shares the powerful lessons she’s learned about creating a home that honors the past and celebrates the future.

“A generous, three-dimensional portrait that inspires the reader to reflect on their own sense of home and belonging.”—Rio Cortez, New York Times bestselling author of The ABCs of Black History

“Home is a reflection of what we inherit.”

Grappling with the state of the world over the last few years—the global pandemic, climate change, threats to women’s rights, constant racial violence—LaTonya Yvette began to contemplate the concept of home. What does it mean to cultivate safety when it is constantly under threat? How can we nurture joy and peace within the spaces where we spend most of our precious time? Who can we turn to for guidance along the way?

In Stand in My Window: Meditations on Home and How We Make It, Yvette explores these kinds of questions as she takes readers through the journey of her own rediscovery of home. In eleven meditative essays, accompanied by 25 beautiful photographs taken over the course of writing the book, Yvette illustrates how the act of homemaking can be revolutionary, liberating—and one of the most powerful expressions we have of self- and community care.

Woven throughout the book is the story of the nearly 200-year-old house in upstate New York that Yvette bought and painstakingly renovated, with the aim of creating a safe space for BIPOC communities. The house—Yvette’s ultimate expression of home—provides her greatest lessons. Both visual feast and emotional salve, Stand in My Window demonstrates that home truly is what you make of it—in mind, body, soul, and in the thoughtfully curated spaces we can build for ourselves anywhere.