Book: Speak the Unspeakable

Personalized and Autographed book ~ Pulling her famous red curls into a messy bun, Jessica Holter becomes Ghetto Girl Blue in the telling of her personal journey from hippie commune to the international stage of HBO Real Sex in this page-turner. Speak the Unspeakable peels off the layers of theatrical makeup and fishnet stockings to reveal a vulnerable but resilient young woman in her coming-of-age story. With trigger warnings in place, Holter invites you on a brief, humorous, and emotionally charged journey through foster care, US Army Basic Training, and college at Howard University when DC was Chocolate City. She immerses readers in the spirit of potential as she searches for mentors and is offered pickles. From the colorful scene of P P Street to the down-low crevices of Tracks nightclub, Ghetto Girl Blue weaves a vivid tapestry of DC in its heyday. Follow her onto trains and go for erotic limo rides where romantic trysts unfold with her recurring lover, a permanently uncommitted fixture in her life. With shock and awe, she shares her how-to plan on making something from nothing, not mincing words about what can happen when you cannot recognize a pimp and do not know how to say no. Along her journey to the theatrical stage, and the printed page, she falls in love with Hip Hop, interviews, and shares spaces with the rich, the famous, and intellectuals who all play a part in her personal evolution and in the making of The Punany Poets.

Speak the Unspeakable is also poetic evidence of Holter's Christian foundation and the sexual trauma that put the scarlet letter on her P chest. Her Black Church roots are key in understanding the author, who was a youth minister, a door-to-door evangelist, and the foster child of a deacon who molested her. Born the biracial child of an Irish American mother and the 23rd child of a rolling stone father whom she never met, Holter leads us into her twilight years, finding her blood family and finally feeling a sense of belonging. Speak the Unspeakable is infused with exposes, essays, poetry, positive affirmations, and self-help anecdotes for people of color, women, the abandoned masses of foster children, and survivors of sexual abuse.

About the Author:

Jessica Holter is a writer, public speaker, visual artist, and theatrical producer, best known for creating The Punany Poets in 1995. Also known as Ghetto Girl Blue, she is a pioneering figure in Black erotic spoken word. Holter has authored multiple titles, including the poetry collection Verbal Penetration and the novel The Punany Experience, published by Zane’s Strebor Books through Simon & Schuster.

With the recent release of her new book, Truth is a Trap House, her classic series Punany: The Hip Hop Psalms is gaining new audiences. While the original coffee table book is out of print and coveted by collectors, Black Love American Style, The Onliners, and Secret of the Pearl are available on Amazon. Speak the Unspeakable is also a fan favorite for survivors of trauma.

Fans of her theater work will enjoy her Adult Night School Stage Play, which producers can bring to their own community stages. Holter, a talented visual artist, is particularly proud of Ghetto Girl Blue’s Art Book with Haiku Poetry.

Her mystery books include AKA Dead Man and 13 Rooms. Her first self-help book, Voices of Foster Care: Healing Trauma, aimed at foster care alumni, is set to be released in Spring 2025.

Get previews of Jessica Holter’s written work at CoffyBooks.com.