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    • Welcome
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    • About Me
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    • Blog
    • Get Updates
    • Social Media
    • Contact
    • …  
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      Work With Me

      Turning a New Leaf

      Moments of Transformation

      · poetry,leadership,liberatory practice,social equity

      The killing of George Floyd, and the ensuing Black Lives Matter marches which highlighted the human rights violations suffered by Black Diaspora populations in the global north, ignited my poetry writing practice. Prior to this moment, my writing was mainly academic, with a focus on racialisation and health equity. The shock of the events of summer 2020, triggered a desire to capture my thoughts and feelings in poetry. I lost confidence in the language of academia. A colloquial Nigerian phrase “too much grammar” comes to mind here. This in essence, suggests academic language conceals more than it reveals. This was my existential crisis moment. This was a moment to give myself permission, to write about the subjectivities of racialisation.  

      I experimented with converting ideas from my academic musings into poems and to my surprise, and delight something potent evolved. The brevity and compression of ideas, made my communication direct as I was no longer concerned with cautious hedging, and the impartiality expected in academic writing. I could finally ‘speak truth to power.’ 

      Poetry leaves no place to hide. It demands that one looks at the evidence presented and be open to what resonates with us. In this respect, I find poetry liberating, because I am a truth seeker and problem solver. I have a romantic notion, that we can do better if we want to. By design or default, if we all do better than we can continually transform our planet. I offer you my gift - Radical Self Care Manifesto.    

      Radical::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

                                                         Self-Care::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

                                                                                                            Manifesto::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

      racialised as black 

      while 

      researching 

      race 

      the past 

      is always 

      present 

      stamped 

      in black 

      always 

      redacted 

       

      as each text 

      leaps off the page 

      assaults our senses 

      because of our heritage 

      nervous systems 

      snarl 

      immune systems 

      groan 

      jagged 

      what a burden 

      what a joy 

       

      from the margins 

      to the front line 

      holding the line 

      we go round 

      and round 

      in circles 

      missing the centre 

      like a 

      tipsy spirograph 

      trying to 

      walk a straight line 

      yet we carry the load 

      till we become 

      the load 

      hypnotised 

      I dream of 

      doing my best 

      as I collect 

      your thoughts 

      in raised fist 

      • bullet point 

      everything is the same 

      while nothing is the same 

      they say something is always missing 

      they make us seem hollow 

      they make us seem flat 

      although we are

      not  black as black 

      selective sight 

      makes them 

      blind as bats 

      as they weave 

      spells of beautiful 

      white spots 

      attempted erasure 

      can never bring closure 

      • Indefinitely 

       

      weight we matter 

      because we are moved to 

      < >intern< > 

      <>in ter polate<> 

      < >in ter cala tion< > 

      <>in ter cala tor<> 

      < >in ter locu tor< > 

       

      pause 

      after the storm 

      I taste sweet san.CT. U. ary 

       

      pause 

      earth rests 

      scan 

      time re sets 

      scan 

      time to sit 

      ischial tuberosity has such a lovely ring doesn’t it 

      sit bones 

      find there 

      fingerprints 

      in the snow 

      erect 

      serene 

      senile 

      still life dead 

       

      we breathin:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

      –six—-five-four———–three--

      two–one ……………………andhold 

      observe molecules of self-love 

      shimmer and sway through 

      your lungs 

      we breath out:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

      –six-five-four————–three-

      two-one :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  

       

      behold 

      be bold 

      feel

      the 

      rhythmic 

      joy 

      as 

      nano 

      mists 

      of 

      epi/genetic  

      racial  

      trauma 

      and pain 

      uncoil/ 

      \uncoil 

      uncoil/ 

      bounce 

      through 

      time 

       

      today 

      enter the center of Afrocentric Wellness 

      Iwaju 

      here we are revitalised *                   I am still 

      here we are refreshed *                    I am so grateful 

      here we breathe with ease*            I am not hateful 

      here we are(re)humanised              here we rest our best   

       

      we seal radical 

      we ooze self-care 

      we manifest manifesto 

      àṣẹ    

       

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