This Black History Month, I’m sharing art, songs, movies, and other creative expressions from and about Black women that spark joy for me. Because Black women are often not remembered for their contributions, I thought this would be one way to give flowers to those who inspire me.
For Day 21, I’d like to honor the work of my favorite writers and liberatory thinkers, adrienne maree brown.
adrienne is a writer and activist, whose work draws inspiration from Octavia Butler, Grace Lee Boggs, and patterns in nature. Some of my favorite writing by adrienne are about accountable relationships and how accountability is critical to solidarity and collective liberation. In their writing about our connection to each other, brown says,
“The world, the values of the world, are shaped by the choices each of us makes. Which means my thinking, my actions, my relationships, and my life create a front line for the possibilities of the entire species. Each one of us is an individual practice ground for what the whole can or cannot do, will or will not do”
adrienne’s writing is like a song… and sometimes she shares her wisdom in song form or poetry. They talk about how our ancestral songs, if we can remember them, are instructions to live on the planet.
adrienne gives us instructions for how we can transform the world together while being in accountable, right relationship with each other. Accountable relationships require practice - for many of us being accountable to creating the conditions for others’ liberation will require new ways of seeing the world and other people.
“We can struggle with each other, but we must be mindful not to get caught in patterns of struggle while our oppressors take note, celebrate, and accumulate more power. We must build an internal sense of movement and justice that fortifies our resilience and strength. This is a time to be brave in our learning and our interventions.”
For liberation to thrive, it is important to commit to the ongoing practice of collective liberation - of seeing ourselves as responsible for how our actions create conditions for others. It means being accountable to repair when we stumble and cause harm. And as brown writes, it also means being open to the accountability actions of others.
Thank you, adrienne maree brown, for creating a beautiful picture of the world we can create through your writing and song
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