i’ve been thinking about how much of the american imperialist project destroys our relationship with time through fatigue, through overwork—through making you sell your time & your ability to work just to survive. then you survive and you’re not even living, you’re just stuck in this loop. i just want to note that this is included in the context of this piece. though i have not said it explicitly.
and still, i remember enslaved folks who were muslim in the usa still practicing magic and making talismans. or still being in tune with the natural world (harriet tubman, nat turner!) as part of their resistance.
i’m thinking of something dani wrote on their instagram today: “ ** i think of this animated film, origin: spirits of the past (have you seen it?) future humans create a lab on the moon where they conduct genetic experiments on plants. the first scene is of a vine with the head of a dragon that explodes out of the lab and hurtles towards Earth, twisting over and over itself, much like bittersweet. they crash into Earth, leave the moon shattered, destroy life as it was, and proliferate into a forest protected by a powerful spirit. two things happen with people then: those with money, power, and access to technology freeze themselves in time. those without are left to survive and adapt to this new world, and some end up fusing their bodies with the spirit of the forest, accessing powers that help their communities rebuild. there's more, but my hands are tired and my painting is calling.” https://www.instagram.com/p/C18KDNytaEH/?igsh=c2l5d3UybWdncjhq
i am proposing that a reclamation of the 0 space is that act of fusing our bodies with the forest, for example, and accessing powers that help us rebuild. that it matters to align ourselves with the natural rebirth of the environment rather than a politically derived “new year” and a holiday season that pushes us to be totally out of whack. many of us are in the underclass yet have deep attachments to a calendar that i feel, at this point, only benefits the elite. the cultural and emotional and psychological ties are not easy to overcome. yet attitude begets everything!!
so, the process will naturally include the need for us to “grow our souls” as grace lee boggs notes, and undergo the “tremendous spiritual and philosophical transformation” that must be sustainably practiced for at least a few more generations! i think more than a few!
i’ve been thinking about how much of the american imperialist project destroys our relationship with time through fatigue, through overwork—through making you sell your time & your ability to work just to survive. then you survive and you’re not even living, you’re just stuck in this loop. i just want to note that this is included in the context of this piece. though i have not said it explicitly.
and still, i remember enslaved folks who were muslim in the usa still practicing magic and making talismans. or still being in tune with the natural world (harriet tubman, nat turner!) as part of their resistance.
i’m thinking of something dani wrote on their instagram today: “ ** i think of this animated film, origin: spirits of the past (have you seen it?) future humans create a lab on the moon where they conduct genetic experiments on plants. the first scene is of a vine with the head of a dragon that explodes out of the lab and hurtles towards Earth, twisting over and over itself, much like bittersweet. they crash into Earth, leave the moon shattered, destroy life as it was, and proliferate into a forest protected by a powerful spirit. two things happen with people then: those with money, power, and access to technology freeze themselves in time. those without are left to survive and adapt to this new world, and some end up fusing their bodies with the spirit of the forest, accessing powers that help their communities rebuild. there's more, but my hands are tired and my painting is calling.” https://www.instagram.com/p/C18KDNytaEH/?igsh=c2l5d3UybWdncjhq
i am proposing that a reclamation of the 0 space is that act of fusing our bodies with the forest, for example, and accessing powers that help us rebuild. that it matters to align ourselves with the natural rebirth of the environment rather than a politically derived “new year” and a holiday season that pushes us to be totally out of whack. many of us are in the underclass yet have deep attachments to a calendar that i feel, at this point, only benefits the elite. the cultural and emotional and psychological ties are not easy to overcome. yet attitude begets everything!!
so, the process will naturally include the need for us to “grow our souls” as grace lee boggs notes, and undergo the “tremendous spiritual and philosophical transformation” that must be sustainably practiced for at least a few more generations! i think more than a few!