Author and motivational speaker Tamarisk M. Locke remembers being repeatedly called aggressive each time she advocated for herself. The Black proverb, "you got me f***ked up" ever-flowed through her mind until she realized she had something that needed to be said, loudly and publicly. That's when the Prichard, Alabama, native took to writing. The result, a self-care , boundary-setting workbook aptly named, You Got Me F**ked Up . "The title was how I felt as I typed the pages," Locke told Blavity. "It stuck because I knew I wasn’t the only one that felt in such a way, yet bottled it inside because of circumstances. Being a past people pleaser gave me direct insight and the ability to share a process with others that I knew was needed across various platforms. I wanted the title to grab the attention of us, people of color, and speak in a way that some of us may have felt at one time or another." Speaking directly to Black people allowed Locke to hone in on a particular topic that has...
