Three Questions
- Can philosophical exploration of mind/body and visceral connection to mind/body be synthesised or are they too separate worlds?
- How do we thrive in silence? Is it possible?
- What could ensure longevity of commitment to uprooting hegemonic structure from which we benefit?
Three Observations
- Slavery has not dissipated and the oppressions of slavery have not ceased, they have simply translates to a time of false equity/equality.
- Looking to history and understanding growth is important to move forward with stride and confidence.
- Radical empathy is integral to radical hope. It is our responsibility to be wholly sensitive to the world and people around us.
Reflection
All of us have a different relationship to our bodies, some of us think of them philosophically and others think of them viscerally. I think for the most part as artists, at least personally, we have a visceral relationship to our bodies – but what is also interesting is that as a trans person, though I do have a visceral relationship to my body, because my body is political I am forced to philosophise and rationalise my body. I think this is true for a lot of marginalised people, that because our bodies are political we are forced to think about them intellectually – our melanin, our genitals, our chromosomes, our hormones, our hair; all of these things that our just us we must intellectualise in order to exist in our bodies without immediate emotional harm. So I guess the two can be synthesised but in order for us to exist in a world fuelled by radical hope I don't think they should. This is why physical work is a passion of mine and the body as a vessel excited me as when a body is in motion a lot of the biography slips away – not so much as to deny identity or homogenise the diversity of bodies but to create a space where bodies exist and that is it. No questions. I know that this is somewhat an extrapolation of what Diaz said in the podcast and I know this is not what he was saying but his words made me think. He talks about the idiom of silence and POC being fluent in the language of silence. I wonder how we thrive when silence is the common language and this pushes me to consider movement. To consider the expression not through voice but body. Though I acknowledge Diaz was speaking to how POC move through the world, I think there is something to be said for not being able to voice your experience, trauma and oppression but being given a space to work through these things with the body, through a visceral experience. To connect with each other through body expression would I think provide a space for radical empathy to thrive and foster genuine care between human beings of a variety of identities and experiences and I think if we foster radical empathy interpersonally it will allow the idea of radical hope to persist and thrive.
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