This was read as part of The Dance Union Town Hall for Collective Action that happened on June 1st, 2020, you can view the entire video at the bottom:
This is a prayer and message for black people, the
people called black.
I pray we heal.
I pray we remove every obstacle in our lives that gets in our way of healing;
of putting our arms around one another’s shoulders
of crying
of holding
of heaving.
Remove every obstacle to grieving.
I pray to remove every obstacle to grieving.
I pray to remove every obstacle to breathing.
I pray to remove every obstacle to our activation.
May the heat of this time make us Pop off.
Becoming bigger than we ever were
May we use the heat of this time to explode, destroy, disintegrate the obstacles of our own personal societies.
may we heal.
may we know we matter.
may we know we are all we need.
may we know deep in our bones that we can,
respond to our needs.
we can
show up for ourselves
we can
build and be something else
we can leave.
we can
let go of that fuck nigga
that tells us we’ll be nothing without it
that tells us ‘look at all it does for us, how dare we’.
that fuck nigga
who is the shattered one.
May we say sorry to ourselves for letting them in, so far.
Say sorry to ourselves for not remembering who we are.
Say sorry to ourselves for playing along with the game.
This age long game of abuse
abuse
abuse
abuse
abuse
abuse
abuse
abuse.
We were born into this.
We will die out of this.
We are the ones who will leave.
We are the ones who will abandon these worlds of abuse.
We are the ones who will see it for what it is. And leave its streets empty.
Leave its cafes, malls, churches, schools, fellowships, studios, kitchens, projects, tenements, cubicles, bedrooms, facebooks, hotel rooms, hospitals, jails, empty.
And we’ll kotch up with each other, for a while.
Make sanctuary with one another, for a while.
Hide with one another, for a while.
And rejoice.
“I have missed so many warning signs because I
was caught up in accolades and success. That is my doing, this is
my undoing. I will no longer choose my own benefit if it
means that I participate in upholding power and white supremacy by ignoring the flags.
That makes me complicit too. As I actively work to undo this, I return to my values: My community.” – Nana Chinara
The message is clear.
We have to get out and return to our values.
We have to get out and return to our values.
We have to get out and return to our values.
We have to get out and return to our communities.
The message comes to me every time I’m drowning in the abyss, and it comes very clearly.
do not get it twisted.
get out.
RIP Marcus White, who always said, “Let’s be clear”.
Collaboration with Ron Ragin as part of his Black August in Motion series:
Original Town Hall where prayer was offered: