To be able to rest is a privilege. As we slow down, stay home, or, otherwise, agitate, work hard, and take to the streets, I found it valuable to reflect on the luxury that is being able to rest. Tricia Hersey reflects here about the science of sleep, black liberation theology, womanism, somatics, reparations theory, and afro-futurism. She reminds us that "rest is resistance. Rest is reparations."
I am not an expert, and I am not black -- I want to make this clear. But, I have had the privilege of being able to rest, think, grow, and heal during this time. This privilege is inextricably linked to my situation -- my family is upper-middle class, I am white-passing, and we live in a place that has access to clean air, water, and nature. Many BIPOC people in America do not have this privilege - they have been forced into housing projects that are in environmentally vulnerable places, are often part of the essential service workers who are on their feet daily feeding and providing for America, or, these days, they are in the streets, protesting and demanding justice for centuries of inaction. I'm not protesting right now. My little mountain community is small, and our healthcare facilities are limited, so I'm trying to do what I can from home to help bring this movement forward, and learn with you all about how we can make these places - the internet, our communities, and our planet - safer and more comfortable for black bodies. They deserve to rest. For the Wild is a podcast that I've found incredibly helpful these days. It was first recommended to me by Pi Greg, a Coloradan living in Thailand, and a teacher of yoga, seed-saving, permaculture, and environmentalism, and an instructor at Where There Be Dragons. Greg is one of those teachers I've been looking to during this time, to find guidance, and help steady me. Are you resting? Do you have the privilege to rest? I do, and a lot of people don't. I'm going to regenerate while I rest, listen, learn, and engage in dialogue, with the intention that, the more I move through this space with a goal of deliberate action, community-building, and learning, black people may get some rest. And to my black, BIPOC friends - those in the streets, at home, working, resting, protesting, or healing - wherever you are right now, I see you. I hear you. I'm listening. Get some rest. Lotsa love, -P
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