“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”– Andre Lorde
I’ve been looking for ways to channel my energies these days into something positive. I recently joined a NYCore Inquiry to Action Group focusing on Art & Healing . We meet on Thursday nights at the CUNY Grad Center to talk, to listen, to read, and to make art together. On our first evening we worked on a collaborative mural reflecting on healing.
I drew a sewing needle in a sea and wrote the words: comfort, slowing down, distance and time, and closure.
After some discussion with the group I realized that healing was also a generative process, an opening for something new, like a seed.
We talked about navigating or sometimes avoiding our wounds, of the challenges to making the choice to heal, of the pressure of always being seen as a provider of emotional strength for others (as women of color).
Part of my strategy for healing is to learn more about resilient women of color that came before me and to amplify their voices, to pay homage to their contributions. I started by looking at the list of women that were honored by the Women’s March. My plan is to make a linocut print for each woman with a quote by each woman. These prints will be distributed for free at various events.
#WHYWEMARCH
We are empowered by the legions of revolutionary leaders who paved the way for us to march, and acknowledge those around the globe who fight for our freedoms. We honor these women and so many more. They are #WHYWEMARCH.
Bella Abzug • Corazon Aquino • Ella Baker • Grace Lee Boggs Berta Cáceres • Rachel Carson • Shirley Chisholm • Angela Davis Miss Major Griffin Gracy • LaDonna Harris • Dorothy I. Height bell hooks • Judith Heumann • Dolores Huerta • Marsha P. Johnson Barbara Jordan • Yuri Kochiyama • Winona LaDuke
Audre Lorde • Wilma Mankiller • Diane Nash • Sylvia Rivera Barbara Smith • Gloria Steinem • Hannah G. Solomon Harriet Tubman • Edith Windsor • Malala Yousafzai
Our agreements for the group, which I think would be great to adapt to any working group (such as a classroom)
- Be attentive
- Embrace contributions of everyone
- Ask for what you need
- Embrace vulnerability
- Be present
- this is a sacred space. honor with humility. bring all of you.
Joy Lai 