"GOOD TROUBLE"

 

Representative John Lewis once said " Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble".

Allies and people in power say things like, "you need to wait", "your time will come", "can you find a more appropriate time to do this?"

So when is a good time to talk about human rights?

When will our time come to talk about who we are and talk about our history?

What is "good trouble"? 

In my head it has never been a more appropriate time to discuss trans rights and queer rights. In my head "good trouble" means all trouble. 

Dr. Martian Luther King said once, "...but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."

Intangibility

Madness,

                               Pure

             Madness...

Is 

there 

Any

Tangibility

In Sight?

 

                                             Leading the Mind

To Wander. 

                                            Why?

 

Out of Scale 

and

                                               Out of Context,

No Sense

May Come. 

 

Sweep

                           Away

                                                      Confusion           to

Reveal 

a

Reality.

 

A Surreal World,

Parallel to Our

Own.

 

Mirrors Lend

No

                                Reflection,

and

Water Blends

with

                              Land 

as 

One. 

 

Is the Obvious

                                                                          Our Reality

or

Simply

the

Representation

of that

Which We 

Know?

 

    This piece represents my understanding of identity and gender, in terms of the sociocultural viewpoint. We, as individuals might well understand ourselves, and see ourselves as we are. While at the same time, there can often exist a sense of disconnectedness, of intangibility, in terms of our self-perception pertaining to society, and those around us. I chose to use indirect metaphor to illustrate our own understanding in contrast with the understanding of others, and also chose to place some of the words in the positioning that I did, in order to emphasize that disconnection.

 

                               

Michel Foucault Art Piece

 

Dear Woman

 Dear Woman,

Your body is beautiful.

Your body was not birthed to give birth. 

Your body does not owe this world a child. 

Your body is beautiful.

Your body is not property.

Your body is not owned by a man or another human in this world. 

Your body is beautiful.

Your body is strong.

Your body is phenomenal.

You are beautiful and you can do whatever the hell you want.

Real World (The Chronicle of the Toys)

It all moves so fast.

Spinning

and

Spinning.

 

As though a child playing with its top,

A bin full of toys.

Made to move through life as if it were not our own.

Play by play

Scene by scene.

No room to choose

Nor moments to linger,

Wonder at our own existence.

 

Waiting, watching

For the few short moments when the child,

bored of its toys

Stops playing. 

For the time when the toys can truly come to life,

Creating their own story.

A truth in the absence of the vertigo,

The constant spin.

The toys finally allowed their bliss.

Happiness.

Peace.

Time should always feel as such,

Existence our own.

But the child returns, wishing to play once more,

Forcing us into the narrative it creates.

Back into the stream with all the other toys.

 

Perhaps one day, the toys will

Break free.

One day the top will stop spinning,

The toys will then

 Belong to no tale,

No rendering.

Left to write a chronicle all their own. 

    From my own perspective, the thoughts and feelings I chose to express here connect to the concepts of Queer Theory, in that often in society we are molded and sculpted, groomed to be something or someone from a very young age. We are placed in a queue, taught how to be in line with this view or that view, and often it is not until we are actually left to our own devices that we are able to think and shape ourselves as we see fit. As our individual selves.   

 

 

 

 

 

Too Much To Do, Too Many To Read.

There’s so many books out there

Many subjects to read

Thrilling, sad, maybe even some romance is nice.

There’s too many books out there to read.

Take a shot?

Go out of your comfort zone,

And read something you aren’t used to.

There’s not enough time, But you can sure give it a try.

Books may seem uninteresting, but once you're in.

Go all the way, don’t hold back.

Your world will be made your own.

There will never be enough time.

Read your heart away because

Your pages are turning

And —

Your book is coming to an end.

There's enough time for you

To make your story.

The way 

YOU

Want it to be.

Enough

 

My favorite poet Rudy Francisco once wrote, “I sat inside a room with nothing in it and realized it was still full. This is when I knew I was enough.”.  

How I learned I was enough was a rough journey.

I learned I was enough by self-advocating for myself. I stood up to sexist men who told me I was a woman, and it was my job to stay at home, not go to school.

I learned that I could more than what a woman “should” be.

I learned to not constrict myself in a box of what a woman “should” be.

How is my room full?

I allow myself to feel my emotions including anger.

I allow myself to fall out of the role of a nurturer. I am the authority.

I enjoy being in the work force.

I enjoy speaking my mind in public and when I am asked.

I enjoy learning and researching.

I will not be confined to the box of what “womanhood” should be laid out by society.