Chicago native and Peaks Island resident Shay Stewart-Bouley provides insight into her life through her award winning blog Back Girl in Maine. She is incredibly open and generous by allowing us to stand in her shoes not just as a Black Mainer but also as a mother, a daughter grieving the loss of her father, a grandmother, a woman trying to cope with middle age, and a person “from away” trying to find a fit. Her daily pandemic posts have helped many trying to lift the gloom hanging over our heads. When her father died in the midst of a COVID lockdown, many of her followers were there to help lift her spirits and expressed their own pain in grieving for their parents.

Race is the thread woven through her text. In an interview with The Maine Magazine Shay shared her motivations. “All of my work is centered on anti-racism, because racism is America’s original sin, and we are still living with it,” she says. “We are only just starting to wake up to the fact that racism is not just about personal feelings; it is woven into the fabric of this nation.”

Shay is the Executive Director of Community Change Inc., a nonprofit focused on anti-racism with a specific focus on working with white people. Prior to COVID she travelled widely to speak on anti-racism. She is supported by a group of writers of color on her blog and social media outlets.

Following Shay and Black Girl in Maine will have you looking at Maine and yourself in a different way. You may find as I have that you connect with her in a very personal way. Reading her pandemic posts on Instagram is like following a beloved character in a book yet she is real, accessible, and incredibly open.