“The way [Najya] pieces together words on paper to create a dance on your tongue and an ache in your heart is divine and one of a kind. How she found all the right words for this moment in time, I will never know. Read it [Cotton]. You will feel in your physical body a range of emotions you never knew you had, and know by the end of it, you will feel like you have found a sister. ​I have read and re-read, gifted, cried over, healed, and gleamed empathy through works from a very select group [of] women of color poets: Claudia Rankine, Rupi Kaur, Sarah Kay, and Warsan Shire. Today, to my delight, I have added [Najya] Williams to this group of incredible and unapologetic sisters.”

Sarah Hsu, The Milken Scholars Program