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IN SURREAL LIFE
As some of you may know, a few years ago I started my own business, Freer Form, an umbrella for all of my workshops, performances, school visits, & creative adventures. It's a business rooted in the belief that "no matter the medium, joy & growth can be found in reaching for your newest shape, your freer form." In Surreal Life is Freer Form's biggest project, with four sessions a year. Along with the usual jam-packed month of prompts, poet calls, a Core Group of 4 writers among the larger batch of 40 students, our August session comes with its own shapeshifting, meaning there's some brand new additions:
• August will have a whopping FOUR Visiting Poets. And they're amazing.
• August will mark the beginning of a revitalized Scholarship program for 9 Black writers to take the course tuition-free. Queer & Trans Black writers will be prioritized. Yes, you can nominate yourself!
• ISL August 2020 welcomes Kim Mayo as our ISL Fellow! Kim is a maker from another realm: musician, poet, claymation videographer, a deep feeler & vast thinker. As a resource & point person during the course, Kim will guide her fellow Surrealists on their month-long journey. This includes her heading the very first Break Out group for all Black ISL participants. The Break Out group includes a private digital space to connect as a writing cohort, as well as an exclusive craft & industry talk with Angel Nafis.
Over the years, ISL has expanded from its initial 10 spots to an incredible, dynamic, global space of 40 writers. Spots fill fast, so sign up today!
Know someone you think would be a great fit for ISL? Forward them this email or nominate a Surreal Scholar!
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BUOYS
noun: an anchored float serving as a navigation mark, to show reefs or other hazards, or for mooring
verb: to keep (something or someone) afloat; cause to become cheerful or confident
• Podcast: On Being with Krista Tippett: Resmaa Menakem 'Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence.' This was my first introduction to Resmaa Menakem, a therapist & trauma specialist who "activates the wisdom of elders & a very new science, about how all of us carry the history & traumas behind everything we collapse into the word 'race' in our bodies."
• Movie: Disclosure on Netflix. This was a painful, albeit necessary & illuminating watch. "According to a study from GLAAD, over 80% of Americans don't personally know someone who's transgender. That means most people learn about trans people from the ways they're depicted in movies & TV."
• Donate: Click here for a list of organizations serving the Black community, grieving families, & protestors. Here are a few organizations I've been redistributing to: Loveland Therapy Fund providing financial assistance to hundreds of Black women and girls to go to therapy; G.L.I.T.S addresses "the health & rights crises faced by transgender sex workers holistically by using harm reduction, human rights principles, economic and social justice, along with a commitment to empowerment and pride in finding solutions from our own community." Nina Pop Mental Health Recovery Fund: In the wake of the murder of Nina Pop, "The Nina Pop Mental Health Recovery Fund is an emergency mutual aid fund that raises money to pay for one-time mental health therapy sessions with licensed Black women therapists."
• What I'm reading: If you haven't yet read Aracelis Girmay's essay From Woe to Wonder I highly recommend doing so. In her own words, "It means so much to share this essay on what is often said to children about the causes of racial violence; and to articulate, in writing, my own struggle to carry woe & wonder simultaneously."
• What I'm Listening to: I made a soothing playlist. Times are incredibly trying. Every time I open my phone, I see another Black person who has been hunted & murdered. In order to wake up every day ready to give my all toward supporting Black Liberation, I need to be "resourced," which means (in the words of Lama Rod Owens) in my body, taking care of myself, open-hearted, not tired, not resentful, holding space for everything that arises. This peaceful music wires me toward a place of generosity & steady-burning.
• In My Own Words: Catapult recently published my first essay (hi there, milestone!) The Bipolar Nanny Diaries. The Washington Post Book Club recommended Odes to Lithium & published my poem The Knife-Flower, an ode for to father & to gentleness itself. Pre-Quar, I was on Asher Pandjiris' podcast Living in this Queer Body; you can find my episode, 'I Am the Site of Possibility,' here.
• Life Hack: Sonya Renee Taylor, Angel Kyodo Williams, Rachel Elizabeth Cargle, & J Mase III are just four folks I'm consistently learning from on Instagram. If you are not on Instagram, this is the time to join––not to make your head explode or as a time-suck; Twitter & Instagram both provide a way for activists to spread information about the Uprisings that you cannot find anywhere in mainstream media. It's educative to follow Black authors, visual artists, doulas, musicians, mothers, bookstores, activists, & social justice organizations. Instagram can be a way to decenter oneself, listen, & learn. Hashtags like #blacklivesmatter, #blackdisabledlivesmatter & #blacktranslivesmatters have continued to expand my thinking, connecting me to actions & information.
If you have a buoy that's keeping you afloat, I'd love to hear about it! Just respond directly to this email.
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WE ARE THE SITE OF POSSIBILITY
I'm going to take just a moment to speak to white folks on the other side of this zine. I want to encourage us all to remember that so long as you are committed to honoring Black leadership with your actions, there is no wrong way to be a part of the movement.
Whether you vote, march, are watching the livestream of the march, are a point person at home for friends/marchers should they get arrested, donate to bail funds, educate yourself by reading critical texts by Black authors, educate yourself on how Black Trans Women have always been the most vulnerable & central to this movement, hold a one-person protest on the corner of your suburb with a sign at hand, put an end to your own white silence, have difficult discussions with family or friends about Black Liberation (not White Feelings), there is no wrong way to be a part of the movement.
We need every hand on deck. We need you. There's folks who have committed their entire lifetimes to this work – no need to reinvent the wheel – if you are just beginning, seek out their voices. We are welcome to honor them, to support them, to fight under their leadership for a truly just society that understands that until the most vulnerable among us are protected, none of us are free.
As white folks, we're invited to reflect: in what ways have I been asleep? How can my awakening center around Black Lives & not white guilt? What are some ways I can center Black Liberation in my daily life? Have I felt like I can't step into action because I don't know enough? How does this keep me frozen? Am I willing to "get it wrong?" How can I shift from a space of Perfection to a space of Process?
Liberalism centers white silence, complicity, timidness, & niceness as an upholder of State violence. Start with your own throat, your own hands, your own pocketbook to end white silence. Yes, Trxmp is the worst, but don't spin-cycle on Whiteness Over There. (Or Orangeness, in his case). Activate yourself. There are so many ways to support Black Lives. Don't stay frozen. Frozen in fear/shame/guilt/deflecting. The new world beckons, but it will not wait.
The new world is about rigidity melting, fluidity, Queerness, empathy, collaboration, trust, the Whole over the so-called "Individual." Reflect: where do I place my individual self/comfort/money over the Whole, the greater community? Who do I consider my community? What am I willing to give up? Because it is certain: I will have to give things up for justice to actually happen.
Would you rather be at brunch, or fighting alongside your neighbor, with your heart activated, burning, alive?
I send all my love to you, wherever you are in your journey. Take it a step further, today. Then take it another step further, tomorrow. There is beauty & power in our continued effort. I would love to hear the ways that you are getting involved & staying invested. Drop me a line.
With maple syrup,
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