Permission to Break:

A Memoir of Strength, Silence, and Softness

By Rashida Saunders

For years, Rashida Saunders was known as the strong one. A police officer. A leader. A mother. The person others depended on.

But who holds the person holding everything together?

Permission to Break: A Memoir of Strength, Silence, and Softness explores the private cost of always appearing capable. Through motherhood, grief, public service, faith, and therapy, Saunders examines how strength became a way to survive—and how difficult it can be to admit you need care, too.

With emotional honesty, she shares the work of confronting silence, questioning expectations, and learning to receive the support she so often gave others.

For anyone who has kept showing up while quietly struggling, Permission to Break offers recognition and an invitation: to name what hurts, ask for help, and make room for a life beyond endurance.

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Inside Permission to Break

Stories shaped by public service and personal reckoning. Honest reflections on identity, grief, faith, and emotional survival. The quiet work of learning to receive care

A reminder that breaking is not failure, it is often the beginning of something honest. More than a story, this is an invitation to return to yourself.

Available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

Listen in My Own Voice

A moment from the audiobook

Rashida Saunders Permission to Break, Introduction

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  • “A radical act of honesty and healing. This memoir gives readers permission to stop pretending, and start listening to themselves.”

    — Laura

  • “A powerful reminder that softness can be a form of survival and healing.”

    — Shauna

  • “Permission to Break is the kind of book you sit with, not rush through. It holds pain with care and reminds you that healing can be slow, tender, and still powerful. I finished it feeling less alone.”

    — Tasha

  • “Rashida Saunders writes with honesty, tenderness, and courage. This memoir doesn’t just tell a story, it creates space for your own. I felt seen, challenged, and comforted all at once.”

    — Alexia

  • “As someone who is used to holding everything together, this book felt like an exhale. Permission to Break gave me language for the weight I’ve been carrying and permission to lay some of it down.”

    — Lisa

  • “This book felt like permission to exhale. It named things I didn’t have language for and reminded me that strength doesn’t have to look like endurance. I felt seen in a way that was gentle and honest.”

    — Lena

RECOGNITION

Recognized by Reedsy Discovery

Permission to Break was selected for review by Reedsy Discovery, joining a curated collection of independently published books reviewed by professional book reviewers.

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Continue the Work

The final page doesn’t have to be the end of the work.

The Permission to Break Workbook is a guided space for reflection, release, and softness. Created to help you move from reading into practice, it offers prompts, exercises, and space to process your own story at your own pace.

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Continue the Conversation

The Permission to Break Discussion Guide was created to help bring the book into conversation, whether you’re reading with a book club, classroom, leadership team, or community.

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Why It Matters

This memoir is the foundation of Black Ember. The values in these pages shape everything we create.

Published by Black Ember Press, Permission to Break is proof that you can own your voice, keep your rights, and build something meaningful on your own terms.

This is where it began.