Community building requires community healing. And what does that look like?

"Staying ‘home’ and not venturing out from our own group comes from woundedness, and stagnates our growth. To bridge means loosening our borders, not closing off to others….To bridge is to attempt community, and for that we must risk being open to personal, political, and spiritual intimacy, to risk being wounded."- Gloria Anzaldua

"Quedarse en la casa'' y no aventurarse fuera de nuestro propio grupo viene donde estamos heridos y proviene nuestro crecimiento. Para hacer puentes signifa que abriemos mas de nuestras fronteras y que no cierremos a otros… Para hacer puentes es intentar comunidad, y para eso tenemos que corre el riesgo de ser abierto a personal, político y espiritual intimidad, a correr el riesgo de ser heridos. "
-
Gloria Anzaldua


Everybody is waiting for the movement to happen ! And we dont realize we are the movement. Its me and you coming together and having some honest and maybe painful truthtelling between us. But there is probably some beautiful thing we will create together as a result. I want to speak to each person in my community.Let's get the party going.

Todo el mundo está esperando a que el movimiento a ocurrir! Y nosotros no darse cuenta de que somos el movimiento. Comienza la communidad cuando usted y yo tienemos algunos conversaciones doloroso pero verdarosos . Pero es probable que algunos bellos cosas que es probablemente vamos a crear juntos . Quiero hablar con cada person en mi communidad.Vamos a comienzar esta fiesta !




Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Letter to Anel Flores, El mundo Zurdo Art exhibit y la vida de Gloria Anzaldua


The last time I saw Gloria was in November at Esperanza, 6 months before she died. We went out and talked awhile, and she was on her way in a few days to el Valle. I talked to her about being a curandera and my work, writing , art, metaphysical and spiritual adventures and tales, and she finally had agreed to meet me sometime, in the next few days, so I could work on her body. This was major decision for Gloria because she had issues about touch. So it was about trust, tu sabes ? And she told me she was worried about her health. We couldnt get connected because of phone issues. So the next few month, she had emailed me several times, and a special email for my birthday. She always remembered. I took this for granted. death has a way of making us more grateful.And we got busy y then sass! I get a call from Randy Conner. And then Kit Quan. My first thought was who would take care of me now. She took care of me.

Gloria wasnt tight with too many people. But we were family and this is what has been quite painful. The 3 of us are messed up about her STILL. I dont know about Kit, but I can speak about me and Randy. There is a place we cant even begin to explain how us queers can speak about our love deeper than blood family but still a family. We had a life together.And oppression has made our family invisible.And we made history and paved roads with her. I talked to Randy last week and he said he didnt know if he could speak as a white man on the subject about her work and life. I said Randy, she called you regualrly for 30 something years to listen to her ideas, inspiration,doubts, grief and joy. She didnt do that with just anybody and yeah I had to listen to who she was upset with, and her joys and hurt too. And yeah she got mad at me too and Im sure I frustrated her, but she loved us and relied on us. we were family.
I have no words but just stories to convey how mind boggling it is to have spent so much time and the intimacy I had with her esp when she writing Borderlands. Smoking cigaretes, eating food, eating M&Ms,and sitting down talking tejana dyke borderland stuff and theory not just queer stuff but about Raza and sexaulity etc. And add in while she was in her ultimate Coalicue state.She didnt sleep for days while she wrote Borderlands.
Y there I was a young Tejana dyke hearing her ideas and telling her my ideas.She never treated me like I was young, but her equal.
Im 49 years old now, I am a butch woman and proud of it. But more than that I hope to reclaim the power of our mestiza india spirituality and sexuality. I am deeply blessed to have had the time I had with her.
And she speaks to me in dreams and other ways. And all I know is she wants me to be me and to quit being all shy and quiet. Randy and I are still close to her in other dimensions and how do we speak of such things even with our joteria? We are still in grief and in isolation. He and I cling to each other and are bonded not just in grief but we still have each other. What a glorious time we had with her! but we were just like you doing our work for love and for all of us. We were just rying to do what was right even without the support of anybody. It was just us. We wrote and painted for us sometimes just the 3 of us.
We are and have always been ahead of our time. But its time for us the elders esp the queer ones that are left, and there isnt many, to be our most powerful selves.The show and the love and work you have put into it is VERY important and you may not realize it. So let me say this:
We were NEVER supposed to find each other.
There are jotos out there that cant find each other still. We think we are the only ones and isolated-solitos.And work like this art show makes us more visible to each other and ourselves authentically and that is more huge than you may ever know. Its history. It make us all clear and more honest. It makes raza think about itself in our own eyes not the colonizers. It raises our self esteem. It heals and builds community.
Thank you for you work .
Y thank you Gloria.
Inalakech