we are the thank you: the ones June was (not) waiting for
This weekend a beautiful multitude, generations of people inspired by June Jordan’s work, including some of her beloved students and collaborators gathered to write together and celebrate the 50 year anniversary of Jordan’s still very timely book Some Changes. We reckoned with how much in the current moment, in our lives and in this world doesn’t make any sense and then we played with form, listened to the darkness and the ocean and opened ourselves to multiple forms of guidance from June Jordan’s powerful work and legacy. Multiple times I was so overwhelmed with gratitude I completely forgot my own curriculum. I am grateful for the power in the space and the vulnerable, hopeful, wise words shared. Please enjoy our group poem below.
The power of this weekend’s workshop opened a portal for me and I have also been motivated by the urgency of June Jordan's poetry to create two other "emergency" workshops for THIS WEEK in response to both the Australian Bushfires and the war against Iran.
Tuesday 1/7: Archive of Fire: Climate Justice in the Time of the Australian Bushfires was inspired by a sister in Melbourne who reached out to me that she was reading my book M Archive: After the End of the World while witnessing her continent on fire amidst the lies and excuses of local politicians. If you cannot attend, please do spread the word to your loved ones and colleagues in Australia, they have the option to participate for free and I timed it to be during their waking hours. Proceeds will go to the Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities which you can also donate to here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fire-relief-fund-for-first-nations-communities
Sign up is here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/archive-of-fire-climate-justice-in-the-time-of-the-australian-bushfires-tickets-88472929915
Wednesday 1/8 (morning) I SAID I LOVE YOU: June Jordan and an Insistent Poetics of Peace was inspired by my dear sister Tala who is a child of Iranian immigrants who asked if she could use a chant she heard me use of June Jordan's words "Love is lifeforce" in an anti-war speech she gave yesterday. Again please help by spreading the word to loved ones and colleagues who are in Iran or who are part of the diaspora. They have the option to participate for free and I timed it to be after work Iran-time.
Sign up is here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/i-said-i-love-you-june-jordan-and-insistent-peace-in-the-face-of-war-tickets-88473670129
And sign up is also open for our regularly scheduled workshop on January 20th:
Who Taught You to Dream: An Ancestor Accountable Writing Ceremony
Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/who-taught-you-to-dream-an-ancestor-accountable-online-writing-ceremony-tickets-88281597635
For Beautiful Us
by the participants in Some Changes: June Jordan and the Decade We’ve Been Waiting For
“you will be god to bless you”
-June Jordan in “For Beautiful Mary Brown: Chicago Rent Strike Leader”
we will be power to bless ourselves
we will be constellations to guide us
we will be dreaming to sustain us
we will be healed to reach our roots
we will be courage to live in truth
we will be fierce to liberate ourselves
we will be water to slake our thirst
we will be together to heal us
we will be fearless to love ourselves
we will be love to feed ourselves
we will be fire to warm us
we will be joy to sustain us
we will be joy to sustain revolution
we will be love in the space of want
we will be infinite unveiling to us
we will be matches to spark us
we will be iridescent to activate us
we will be movement to change the unthinkable
we will be legacy to re-member our heritage
we will be voice to name us
we will be call to sacred in all
we will be arms to hold us together
we will be air to lift our wings
we will be the air we float away on
we will be the salt that floats us
we will be the ocean to liberate our existence
we will be luscious to incubate liberation
we will be laughter that reverberates through darkness
we will be darkness to be known
we will be free to be ourselves
we are the darkness they cannot penetrate
we are the thank you we give ourselves
i will be darkness to wade in myself
i will be moon to reflect me
i will be ocean to free myself
i will be fierceness to protect you
i will be listening to presence you
i will be ears to taste your hope
y’all will be voices to breathe truth
babies will be conscience to lead us
they will be patterns to guide you
they will be models to move our hearts
they will be candles to light the way
guides will be speaking to direct us
she will be here to guide us
you will be heartbeat to guide us
we will be the ones June was waiting for
we will be more than anyone has ever imagined to create an entirely new world
we will be everything we need to be free
