If you are in the business of caring for Black girls/women/femmes, you might be exhausted. There is the slow tide of justice moving in the Breonna Taylor case. There are all the misogynoiristic bottom-dwellers who emerged to tell Black woman hip hop artist and community activist Noname that she and other intelligent, justice-driven Black women need to be nicer and more accommodating to Black men who’ve never valued intelligent, justice-driven Black women in the first place. And there are the details that have emerged surrounding the tragic last days of activist Toyin Salau. This does not scratch the surface when we think of the continued attacks and murders of our trans sisters, the cultural and physical attacks on our younger sisters who are just trying to graduate high school, and my own biological sister, who is currently suing the ACLU SoCal for racial discrimination. And of course, there are the instances right out of my hometown – like the disrespect, disdain, and downright displays of discrimination recently directed at Providence City Council members Nirva LaFortune and President Sabina Matos. And oh, by the way, there is more.
It is exhausting.
That is why I want to ensure that I make my two most recent multimedia poetry videos and audio links available and easy to access in one place – in case you too are exhausted, and need some poetry and art to help you regroup. The two pieces were inspired by thoughts on community, leadership, joyfulness, Black Love, and resistance, and by the invitation to perform during the June 18, 2020 Campaign Kickoff event for Cynthia Mendes, a woman of Cape Verdean and Puerto Rican heritage who is running for office in the 2020 elections for Senate District 18, East Providence, Riverside, and Pawtucket, RI. rho
I love you/us, and I pledge to continue making art, poetry, and public statements that say so.
Sound only: https://soundcloud.com/rezaclif/reza-rites-and-cynthia-runs-preview
Sound only: https://soundcloud.com/rezaclif/reza-rites-cynthia-runs-campaign-launch
