The fantastic adventures of Koach Baruch

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 lov...

How do you spend your days? Almost every morning I wake to a text from my Dad telling me "good morning" or "have a good day." I roll out of bed, grab some gummy multivitamins, turn on my "morning inspiration" spotify playlist and try to get to work on time. Most of my days are spent researching and developing a racial justice curricular praxis model for college students, coordinating an HIV/AIDS intervention program and teaching Black literature at a local HBCU. When I do get a break I try to spend time doing things that feed my soul--reading, karaoke-ing with my folk, playing basketball, writing, drumming, dancing (anywhere the beat drops). What brings you joy? Cuddling with my pit bull baby, Hannibal. Hugs from my brother. Watching sports shows with my Dad. Staying up late and watching horror movies with my mom. Deep belly laughs with my friends. Sing-a-longs with anyone who is down. The *swish* sound when the basketball touches nothing but n...

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 u...

How do you spend your days? From day to day, 365, I spend my days enjoying myself and trying to get a good laugh. I can't function without friends so I'm always calling them to hangout or just to shade them real quick. Shade is one of my Love Languages. I enjoy feeding my friends too. I'm a student of the universe so I'm constantly learning, evolving and soaking in every experience.  And more than anything, just being Black... What brings you joy? As of lately, picking fruit. There's no greater feeling than taking in the colors, texture and the smell of fruit. One of my favorite fruits to pick is pineapple. You have to look for the one with the golden/ brown bottom. They even have sweet aroma. I still haven't mastered picking mangoes, they're one of my favorite to eat. There's thousands of species of mangoes, I want to try them all! What is liberation to you? Liberation is experiencing life without toxic boundaries and limitations. It...

How do you spend your days?  I'm a morning person. I wake up at 5:30am everyday. No matter what. Drink water. Stretch. Workout. Make breakfast. Text/call my mom. Head to work. If I don't work that day, then I usually get coffee and read a book. I'm kind of an ambivert. So depending on how the sun is shinning, I might hangout with friends or enjoy the day to myself. I try to smile a lot and laugh at myself. Take a moment to write about experiences, both current and past. I generally end my day with a glass of wine or three.  What brings you joy?  I absolutely love reading, researching art, and drinking wine. I have this slight obsession with learning about black people that are featured in historical European art. Visiting my mothers house on Sundays because it always smells like fresh flowers. The excitement of starting a new book. Watching the first Harry Potter film over. I work in the commercial photography field, so that also brings me joy knowing that ...

How do you spend our days? Learning and critiquing different approaches to help folks be able to live their healthiest lives. Thinking about how oppression and discrimination have very real effects on people’s health. Discussing how the healthcare system and the public health “industry” are complicit in perpetuating barriers to health for those who are most vulnerable, while they are also inadequate at effectively addressing issues identified as integral to having the opportunity to live a healthy life. Looking for and embracing things that bring me joy as often as possible. Eating tacos. Singing Beyoncé.  What brings you joy? Tacos. Beyoncé. Connecting with people I care about. Making other people laugh. Seeing my friends succeed. Knowing how much I’ve grown as a person and how much I will continue to grow.  What is liberation to you? Everyone having the opportunity to become their fully actualized selves. Having the opportunity to know who you are and w...

How do you spend your days? A typical day for me involves going to school, doing homework, playing video games and watching documentaries.  What brings you joy? Things that bring me joy are: my friends, my mom, my video games, Netflix, thinking about my future goals, A Different World, drag queens and chicken alfredo. What is liberation to you? To me, liberation is being able to be who you are. Being the gender you want, having the body shape you want, being as promiscuous as you want, being as lazy as you want. Liberation is a 3 way relationship between you, yourself and your mindset. At the end of the day a thousand people will have something to say about you but if you are living how you want then who cares?!