February/March 2025 Reflection
I hope that, in spite of being in spooky times with the current administration, that you were able to engage in the celebration of Black History and Black Futures in February and you slowed down to be present to the season change in March. This year in particular, I urge you to pay particular attention to Black joy and Black agency. This means that Black people have the right to decide for themselves how they want to show up. That means no longer policing and/or making judgments of how we as Black people choose to stand in our power, joy, or rest amidst the attempts to diminish us.
As for me, I dream of a world where softness is synonymous with Blackness, where there is room to be tender and expansive about my own pleasure and delight. This feels luxurious to a people who have constantly been positioned to demonstrate resilience in the face of adversity. I intend to reclaim my right to experience leisure, laughter, and reciprocal love as God intended. So as we think about Black Futures, may you do your part to celebrate and make space for Black joy, Black agency, and softness beyond the month of February.
Make no mistake; while I am intentionally celebrating black joy, I have had to make more room for lament and grief and exhaustion as our nation is turning in on itself. DEI is being threatened, which means accessibility and thriving for Black and brown folx, immigrants, trans and queer folx, disabled folx, and poor folx, is being threatened, and that these communities are at a higher risk than they were before this moment.
While we are nearly 3 months into this presidency, which has felt more like 6 grueling months, I have chosen to double down into my rhythms of care and strength-building. This means I show up in the places of advocacy I am called to, pick a lane, and go deep in my protest and my resourcing. I ask hard but important questions, and I move with compassion and support in the places where communities are scrambling and afraid.
I am listening to the news, only once a day, every other day, and talking with my people: friends, colleagues and mentors about how they are navigating this season, what parts of this spooky situation is impacting their world and what they need. We discuss how we can be a community for one another; what skills we have and can learn to ensure as things get more challenging, we still have each other. I've also been moving my body and being in nature a lot more, releasing this tension in my heart.
Not just despite, but because we are in times that may feel overwhelming or defeating, we can choose to take actions, big or small, to care for and fortify ourselves and for others. We can convene, gather, practice breath, grow food, connect with the land, find laughter, consume and spend less. We can move with the understanding that there is no one answer or one person that can lead us towards liberation; it requires us to persevere, and resist IN COMMUNITY.
“It’s in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism”
Reflection Question
Who or what is being a resource for you, and who or what are you helping to resource?
