Dir. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders | 2019 Film
(*Bolded indicates not my words*)
2:18 "White boys are circling .. would come around and look at them from a distance. But she knew what they had in mind"
The immediate realization that my traumatic sexual experiences were largely infected by white boys .. a whiteness that took claim on my unique brown body.. a whiteness that held such misunderstood power, I never spoke their names or abuse in fear of the known effects it would have on my life. A whiteness that went unchallenged or seen by my white mother. A chose ignorance as the elder white men in my family began looking at me differently, a changed energy I could not describe but deeply felt ... isolation married to my beautiful body.
51:00 "Who writes an autobiography at 28?" Angela Davis
My answer? A woman with something to say.
With a life so well lived, it'd be a cultural tragedy to not do so
As Morrison said, " [we] needed a record... my job to publish the voices, the books, the ideas of African Americans and that would last"
What was in the room? What was the furniture? What did it smell like? Who was there? What did it smell like?
55:18 "I was more interesting than they were. I knew more than they did. I wasn't afraid to show it ... You had to be tough, rely on yourself, and tell people no"
1:13:26 "Milkman discovers that his ancestors flew. Got right up out of here and flew"
I did now see that I flew away.
Many moments of my life I will recontextualize through the lens of my child - a way of ensuring I am honoring the inner child within myself and the souls I will one day protect.
At 25, sitting in my princess tower, 15 minutes from Howard University, watching Toni Morrison's documentary - I respect and acknowledge, that I have become an ancestor that transcended my community's suffering.. I, Raven, flew.
"If you could surrender to the air, you can ride it" - Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
My mother cut my throat. Knowing of the world to come for my beautiful Black womanhood.
Look Into:
reread /Beloved by Toni Morrison
Reflection...
So deeply interesting to me that Morrison found such profound success later in her life. Her thirties and beyond were the times her work began to shine. Remarkable in reflection because I only noticed this as I went to note that she is my Aquarian birthday twin, and recently read how with our sign public success is reserved for later in life while now, is the time to focus on personal wins that create my life's foundation (yoga, mediation, writing, physical expression, boundaries, reconfigured patterns)
• 1 November 2022 | Washington D.C. •