Getting Free
/“The heaviest thing you will have to carry as you move forward is regret. Make sure you’re not carrying too much.”
There are many different ways to think about wellness and positive change. One we are particularly fond of is through the lens of freedom. Freedom looks like speaking our truth even when our voices shake, using our voices to make room for others’ stories to be told. The change we want to see takes our passion and our commitment but it is worth it.
This blog is a space where we’ll highlight voices that encourage that journey toward emotional, relational and collective freedom. Below you’ll find the transcribed excerpt of a spoken poem by Staceyann Chin, a spoken-word poet and performance artist, writer and activist committed to anti-oppression work. Chin is a woman of both African and Chinese descent and a Jamaican immigrant residing in New York. Her powerful words are nourishing and challenging us this week. Please be aware she uses some strong language.
TRANSCRIPTION
Today I am so glad I’m a girl because yesterday my mother told me to write my story
No matter that I will write her in unflattering terms
“Write” she tells me “and I hope the book sells so you can afford to
raise that daughter with a heart just like yours”
And everything was better between me and my mother
It didn’t matter that she left me twice.
No matter that in Jamaica in 1972 she had to choose her safety over mine
Yesterday she said “Write, my daughter”
And the world righted itself
And I wish every mother whose daughter survived the burial of these unspoken things
Would give her permission to say what happened
To write down how she survived the terror of being that small girl in a world that so deeply favors men
I wish every cunt had the courage to be her public witness
I wish every woman had the pen, the clear view and the support she needs to scream
What happened to me was not my fault
What happened to me was not my fault
What happened to me was
Not
My
Fault
If you're interested in watching the full performance from which this is excerpted, you can visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUbgoU1F-l0.
Check back here for next week’s inspiration!