28 days --- 56 ways to be Young, Gifted and Black: Alisha Sonnier

How do you spend your days?

I'm a student with a yearning for liberation in my heart so I spend most of my days reading, writing, studying, creating collective black spaces for black people and organizing around issues that black people face.

What brings you joy?

I'm at a really good place right now where most of the things I do bring me joy. Love brings me joy, black spaces and black people bring me joy, seeing this sort of black Renaissance we're in brings me joy, and the fact that people are refusing to quit and continuing to resist brings me joy.

What is liberation to you?

Liberation to me is love. Love is liberating. I want people to love themselves and others the way that the Creator loves us. A love so freeing that it makes it impossible for you to not have the audacity to exist as your truest self, and a love so full of substance that it's impossible for us as individuals to not see how interconnected our struggles are. Liberation is love, and sacrifice that rises above all things material, and shallow. Liberation is about people's refusal to not exist in their truest form, people not fearing death as something that happens when we stop breathing but realizing that in many ways we're dying now both individually and systematically, and to have the full autonomy that they deserve rather than zip codes, class status, gender, race etc. being the factors that decide our fate.

Comments

Breathing in Pesach

(Illustration by Sarah Quinter) Tomorrow, when Pesach begins, we will tell the exodus story. To be sure, there are many reasons we engage in this ritual. It is one that is rich with drama, curiosity, family interaction and revelry. It is also fraught with myths about how it got started and the many traditions that have developed over the years. However, we are commanded to take our time, lean back in our chairs, eat and drink heartily, yet, there is so much pain, sadness and death all around us. It seems increasingly harder each year to step away from what is happening and breathe a little. But that is what we are supposed to do --- breathe. Breathe. BREATHE. Breathe into the notion that there is freedom on the other side of this reality we are living in right now. Breathe knowing that as we move away from oppression, towards liberation, we leave as an erev rav, leaving no one behind. Breathe knowing liberation is our default, our birthright. Full Stop. We lean i

28 days --- 56 ways to be Young, Gifted and Black: Mimi Borders

How do you spend your days? I love days that give me room to breathe and reflect. Typically, I am really busy with school work, research and extra-curricular activities. But this semester I am studying at the University of Ghana and I have more flexibility and control over my time. I do mindfulness meditations in the morning, yoga, write and daydream. Daydreaming is one of my favorite things to do - and it doesn't always have to be a solitary activity. I love dreaming out loud with my friends talking about how we want (WILL) to change the world, the places we will travel, the books we will write, how we will liberate ourselves and our communities. I drink a lot of water during the day and usually get sad at some point thinking about what is currently happening in the USA but I try and write myself out of the dark cloud. What brings you joy? My family is profoundly incredible. My parents are compassionate, emotionally intelligent people that always have uplifted an

Beating the Drum of Our Heart

A few years back, I was talking with someone I just met and they insisted on talking about someone we both knew in a manner that seemed to be equally disrespectful and gossipy. I mentioned to them that I was actually uncomfortable with where the conversation was going and their response was, "it's okay, we only have a few more days until we say the Al Chet, while symbolically beating their chest. Despite my urge to yell, "THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS!, " I reiterated how and why it was uncomfortable for me to stay in the conversation and I walked away. This interaction has troubled me ever since, especially since I think that the Al Chet is one of the most powerful parts of the Yom Kippur service. I was unnerved with how easily this person was able to disregard what they were saying because in their mind, they will "make up for it" saying a few words during service. I believe this liturgy we have inherited from our ancestors is such a blessing, givi

The fantastic adventures of Koach Baruch

Search This Blog