Week 1
Womanish Roots
bib·li·o·man·cy - divination by means of a book, especially the Bible, opened at random to some verse or passage, which is then interpreted.
We discuss Womanism and Black Feminism as liberating frameworks for Black folks, and the importance of centering the voices and needs of those most marginalized. We also identify patriarchy as a lie from hell, and explore different ways it has manifested violently throughout the African diaspora. Included is 2019 footage of a panel tailored around my creative thesis “Come On In The Room: Afrofuturism as a Path to Black Women’s Retroactive Healing.”
Gratitude to ancestor Dr. O for speaking blessings over the work. And gratitude to Mama Brenda Peart for documenting and archiving.
Materials
Channeling prompts
Write about a Black woman who is a possibility model for you. What’s something you didn’t know was possible before encountering them? Who is a Black woman or Black queer person who affirmed for you that you weren’t the only one?
Who are you accountable to?
Finish the prompt: “In a world where all of my needs are met and I know that I’m enough already…”
What does this world feel like? How do you spend your time each day? Is every day the same? Who are you around? Who are you connected to? Who is in your communities? How do you have fun? How do you relax? What does living your purpose look like? How do you celebrate yourself? What does your support system look like? What are your rituals?
Create a mantra for yourself of I Am statements based on who you know you are, what is important to you, what you desire and hope for yourself.
Affirmations
materials
Channeling Prompts
What are some examples of crooked rooms you’ve tried to conform to for your safety and survival?
What or who in your life acts as a compass that can alert you to the reality of your crooked surroundings/environment, and help you reorient?
Write a letter to a younger version of yourself, congratulating and honoring them for surviving the crooked rooms so you could be here today.
Do you see any of your elders or ancestors differently based on this new understanding?
How might you start to listen to and trust the wisdom in your body (feelings) alerting you to places that aren’t in alignment?
Can you recall times your body or intuition informed you the space you were in was crooked? How did you respond?
Affirmations
Week 2
The Crooked Room
We introduce Melissa Harris-Perry’s Crooked Room Theory, and how Black women and non-men are uniquely harmed by white supremacist patriarchal capitalism. Focusing on slavery and Reconstruction in South Carolina, we also highlight the violence Black women experienced and survived, and the social and gender norms formulated during this time period. Norms that persist today.
Dr. Conseula Alena Francis transitioned to the ancestral realm in 2016. She introduced me to the works of Octavia Butler and helped me survive the crooked room.