With world-changing events, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and continued violence against Black bodies at the hands of the police, accruing daily, one might find themselves questioning what it is that sustains themselves throughout this time. For Black women and many other oppressed peoples, survival represents more than continued existence. Through creative writing and art, Black women have cultivated radical interpretations of survival. An early articulation of a radical interpretation of survival is Frances E. W. Harper's poem “SHE'S FREE.” Harper reflects on the deadly conditions slavery presses upon Black bodies and what more one is willing to face for a different future, writing, “Oh! poverty, danger and death she can brave, / For the child of her love is no longer a slave” (33). Interpretations of survival like Harper have also been explored within the Academy by Black feminist scholars. These scholars often engage Black women's interpretations of survival through assessment of their ability to bring forth radical societal change. Hence, the creative writing presented within "Written in Our own Hand" expands upon the uses of radical survival in the personal lives of Black women. This is important because the actions of Black women are often only evaluated at the level within which they affect others, ignoring the effectiveness of actions done at the personal level.