1 00:00:11,900 --> 00:00:13,630 Hello loved ones! 2 00:00:13,630 --> 00:00:15,495 I'm Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, 3 00:00:15,495 --> 00:00:19,776 welcome back to Audre Lorde Resurrection Sunday. 4 00:00:19,776 --> 00:00:23,882 Um... catching up! I'm catching up on the Sundays that I missed, 5 00:00:23,882 --> 00:00:30,033 and this past weekend we were in Houston, 6 00:00:30,033 --> 00:00:33,360 facilitating Mobile Homecoming, grounding, 7 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,588 with a team of awesome facilitators, 8 00:00:35,588 --> 00:00:42,050 The Fullness: an all day institute on erotic power and spiritual wellness, 9 00:00:42,050 --> 00:00:46,012 inspired by Audre Lorde's "Uses of the Erotic/Power of the Erotic." 10 00:00:46,012 --> 00:00:48,161 And it was incredible, 11 00:00:48,161 --> 00:00:50,886 about a hundred people participated throughout the day, 12 00:00:50,886 --> 00:00:54,919 and it was powerful to witness all these folks 13 00:00:54,919 --> 00:01:00,191 stepping into their full, embodied power in relationship to their sexuality, 14 00:01:00,191 --> 00:01:05,260 their sexual practice, their political practice, their creative practice, 15 00:01:05,260 --> 00:01:09,355 their spiritual and religious practice, everything. 16 00:01:09,355 --> 00:01:14,566 So, one of the poems that we used, and did an oracle with during the institute, 17 00:01:14,566 --> 00:01:21,303 is Audre Lorde's "Love Poem", from her collection New York City Headshop and Museum. 18 00:01:21,303 --> 00:01:23,992 And I'm gonna share it with you right now. 19 00:01:28,028 --> 00:01:31,829 "Love Poem" 20 00:01:31,829 --> 00:01:37,434 Speak earth and bless me with what is richest 21 00:01:37,434 --> 00:01:40,600 make sky flow honey out of my hips 22 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:42,692 rigid as mountains 23 00:01:42,692 --> 00:01:44,421 spread over a valley 24 00:01:44,421 --> 00:01:48,525 carved out by the mouth of rain. 25 00:01:48,525 --> 00:01:53,288 And I knew when I entered her I was 26 00:01:53,288 --> 00:01:55,801 high wind in her forests 27 00:01:55,801 --> 00:01:59,584 hollow fingers whispering sound 28 00:01:59,584 --> 00:02:03,125 honey flowed from the split cup 29 00:02:03,125 --> 00:02:06,351 impaled on a lance of tongues 30 00:02:06,351 --> 00:02:10,986 on the tips of her breasts, on her navel 31 00:02:10,986 --> 00:02:14,389 and my breath, howling into her entrances 32 00:02:14,389 --> 00:02:17,887 through lungs of pain. 33 00:02:17,887 --> 00:02:20,392 Greedy as herring-gulls 34 00:02:20,392 --> 00:02:22,260 or a child 35 00:02:22,260 --> 00:02:26,180 I swing out over the earth 36 00:02:26,180 --> 00:02:28,321 over and over 37 00:02:28,321 --> 00:02:30,294 again. 38 00:02:32,740 --> 00:02:36,149 So, I love this poem for many reasons. 39 00:02:36,149 --> 00:02:40,184 Two that are really important in terms of this whole context of survival, 40 00:02:40,184 --> 00:02:43,478 and re-defining survival with the guidance of Audre Lorde, 41 00:02:43,478 --> 00:02:51,078 are that this is a poem where she talks explicitly and makes a connection between 42 00:02:51,078 --> 00:02:57,540 her sexual practice, her intimate embodied love for women or for a woman, 43 00:02:57,540 --> 00:03:03,582 and her spiritual practice of connecting with nature, connecting with the earth itself, 44 00:03:03,582 --> 00:03:08,984 and the valleys and the rain and everything. 45 00:03:08,984 --> 00:03:12,597 And I think that the Fullness Institute was really all about that... 46 00:03:12,597 --> 00:03:18,760 how can we activate our embodied practice, and our intimacy with each other, 47 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,126 and our intimacy with ourselves 48 00:03:21,126 --> 00:03:25,736 as a resource that has us be more alive, more connected with nature, 49 00:03:25,736 --> 00:03:29,012 and more in tune with our spiritual power. 50 00:03:29,012 --> 00:03:34,349 So, we're really excited about what all the participants in the institute will do with that 51 00:03:34,349 --> 00:03:35,921 as they go forward. 52 00:03:35,921 --> 00:03:39,653 We are thrilled about all of the co-sponsoring organizations, 53 00:03:39,653 --> 00:03:46,526 25 different organizations who are doing this work, helping people live fully in their bodies year round, 54 00:03:46,526 --> 00:03:49,931 and you can check that out if you go to the Mobile Homecoming tumblr: 55 00:03:49,931 --> 00:03:53,502 mobilehomecoming.tumblr.com 56 00:03:53,502 --> 00:03:56,513 And the other thing that I think is really important about this poem, 57 00:03:56,513 --> 00:04:00,404 --and this speaks to your assignment should you choose to accept it-- 58 00:04:00,404 --> 00:04:05,383 is that when Audre Lorde first submitted this poem for publication with her publisher at the time, 59 00:04:05,383 --> 00:04:10,399 Broadside Press, which is one of the most important publishers of the black arts movement, 60 00:04:10,399 --> 00:04:14,259 her editor pushed back 61 00:04:14,259 --> 00:04:15,965 and said that Oh, this is confusing, 62 00:04:15,965 --> 00:04:18,666 there's something you know about the pronouns, 63 00:04:18,666 --> 00:04:20,532 *"I" entered "her", you know, that doesn't... 64 00:04:20,532 --> 00:04:23,666 that doesn't really make sense... 65 00:04:23,666 --> 00:04:24,533 And Audre Lorde was like 66 00:04:24,533 --> 00:04:26,351 no, there's nothing wrong with the pronouns, 67 00:04:26,351 --> 00:04:29,136 y'know, I'm saying exactly what I want to say. 68 00:04:29,136 --> 00:04:33,639 But the way that Broadside Press had been marketing her work 69 00:04:33,639 --> 00:04:38,493 was as a mother, as a Black Nationalist woman, as a teacher, 70 00:04:38,493 --> 00:04:40,223 not as her whole self, 71 00:04:40,223 --> 00:04:45,258 as a Black, lesbian, warrior, poet, mother, who she was. 72 00:04:45,258 --> 00:04:48,586 And she took a stand with this particular poem, 73 00:04:48,586 --> 00:04:51,480 which Broadside Press did publish in her next collection, 74 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,288 New York City Headshop and Museum, 75 00:04:53,288 --> 00:04:56,422 and she also read the poem publicly all around New York City 76 00:04:56,422 --> 00:05:01,779 as one of her acts of declaring who she was and how she worked, 77 00:05:01,779 --> 00:05:03,515 how her spiritual practice worked, 78 00:05:03,515 --> 00:05:06,580 what the role of her love for women was in her life, 79 00:05:06,580 --> 00:05:11,852 not just as an abstract idea, but also as an embodied way of engaging with the planet. 80 00:05:11,852 --> 00:05:19,091 And it was really a poem that allowed her to unapologetically declare who she was, 81 00:05:19,091 --> 00:05:24,618 and when someone interviewed her about why she named herself in these ways, 82 00:05:24,618 --> 00:05:31,261 why every time she spoke she came to say "I am a Black lesbian warrior poet mother," 83 00:05:31,261 --> 00:05:33,932 doing my work, come to ask you are you doing yours?" 84 00:05:33,932 --> 00:05:37,512 Someone asked her, y'know, why do you have this whole litany of words when you introduce yourself? 85 00:05:37,512 --> 00:05:43,461 And she shared that she had not known that 86 00:05:43,461 --> 00:05:48,165 Langston Hughes, a poet who had mentored her, who she knew personally, 87 00:05:48,165 --> 00:05:53,122 who was very important to her as a poet, 88 00:05:53,122 --> 00:05:54,197 as he's important to all of us, 89 00:05:54,197 --> 00:05:56,272 but also as a person who she knew, 90 00:05:56,272 --> 00:05:58,820 who gave her advice about her own poetry, 91 00:05:58,820 --> 00:06:06,494 she never knew about his sexuality, about that aspect of his life until after he was dead. 92 00:06:06,494 --> 00:06:08,229 And she decided at that moment, 93 00:06:08,229 --> 00:06:12,975 she wanted everyone to know the parts of herself that mattered to her. 94 00:06:12,975 --> 00:06:17,671 And she knew that she wouldn't be able to predict who would find healing 95 00:06:17,671 --> 00:06:22,192 in her ability to unapologetically declare who she was, 96 00:06:22,192 --> 00:06:25,861 who would be out there who could identify with a piece of who she was 97 00:06:25,861 --> 00:06:28,979 and would live to see her example. 98 00:06:28,979 --> 00:06:31,634 And I love that, I love hearing that and knowing that, 99 00:06:31,634 --> 00:06:38,536 because of course, I am a person who found her work after she passed on. 100 00:06:38,536 --> 00:06:42,472 I'm absolutely empowered by the unapologetic way she described herself, 101 00:06:42,472 --> 00:06:49,975 and I'm sure many of us, many of you watching this video are also empowered by her bravery. 102 00:06:49,975 --> 00:06:54,373 So! Your assignment for this week in the name of Audre Lorde 103 00:06:54,373 --> 00:06:56,957 is to think about that. 104 00:06:56,957 --> 00:07:02,653 What is something about yourself that you want to declare more unapologetically? 105 00:07:02,653 --> 00:07:05,509 It could have to do with your sexuality or sensuality or your practice, 106 00:07:05,509 --> 00:07:07,964 or it could really also be anything, y'know, like, 107 00:07:07,964 --> 00:07:13,224 if you are an artist but you've been kind of underplaying that part of who you are, 108 00:07:13,224 --> 00:07:18,172 what would it look like to unapologetically declare yourself as an artist? 109 00:07:18,172 --> 00:07:23,087 To highlight your creative practice where people can see it. 110 00:07:23,087 --> 00:07:24,648 Or whatever it is, you know, 111 00:07:24,648 --> 00:07:28,485 if you really wanna highlight your relationship with your siblings more... 112 00:07:28,485 --> 00:07:32,049 [ CANNOT HEAR THIS PART ] 113 00:07:32,049 --> 00:07:33,350 ...what would it look like to say 114 00:07:33,350 --> 00:07:39,400 "Y'know what? Being a sister is a crucial part of who I am, and I really want to spread that to the world" 115 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,552 Or for whatever reason. 116 00:07:41,552 --> 00:07:42,809 With no apologies. 117 00:07:42,809 --> 00:07:45,480 I mean, my siblings are amazing, I'm obsessed with them. 118 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:47,237 No apologies for that. 119 00:07:47,237 --> 00:07:53,316 So whatever that is for you, the idea is for you to unapologetically express that this week. 120 00:07:53,316 --> 00:07:57,218 If you wanna leave a comment, if you wanna email me I would love to hear about it, 121 00:07:57,218 --> 00:08:02,570 and if you want a poem blessing like the participants in the Institute got, 122 00:08:02,570 --> 00:08:06,663 distilled from Audre Lorde's "Love Poem", you can figure out how to do that, 123 00:08:06,663 --> 00:08:09,983 either right below this video or at 124 00:08:09,983 --> 00:08:12,899 summerofourlorde.wordpress.com 125 00:08:12,899 --> 00:08:15,808 Thank you so much for listening, for watching, 126 00:08:15,808 --> 00:08:18,208 sending you much much much much love. 127 00:08:18,208 --> 00:08:20,890 MWAH! Happy Resurrection Sunday.