Take 5 w. Reza Rites
The #AmbitiousBlackFeminist
And 3 AM IS THE NEW BLACK
Below are five things on my mind for today’s edition of Take 5 with Reza Rites. What are five things you’re thinking about?
My uncle, Jay Clifton, passed away last month; I want to thank everyone who checked in and shared condolences. His life was characterized by love for family, professional globetrotting, and service to country, including through time in the Air Force and in his work with the State Department. He balanced being a man who joked quickly and cared warmly, with being a man of mystery and patron saint of confidentiality. I never could describe what he did - even after visiting him in Haiti during a Thanksgiving break while I was in high school. But there was no doubt he loved me and his/our family fiercely. He will be missed by many, including me.
On a parallel timeframe, that is also, perhaps, a perpendicular political positionality, I received news that three poems I submitted for consideration were selected by the What Cheer Writer’s Club, for “Solidarity,” their forthcoming anthology. One of my poems, in particular, offers a critique of “the military industrial complex” and the destruction caused by the weaponry and belief system that condones heinous acts of violence perpetuated all across the world.
Despite what appears to be a contradiction between the love, admiration and adoration that I feel (felt?) for my uncle, and my political and philosophical beliefs about war, I think there are two basic truths demonstrated here that are worth noting in the wake of Black History Month: a) many families can and do stay faithful to love, and to co-existing in the gray areas of mixed and sometimes unaligned personal beliefs and principles. Black women are the original authors of plurality and inclusion; and b) Black American history, and the domestic struggle for freedom, self-determination, and access to opportunity and autonomy has always seen multiple iterations, directions, attempts, and victories, and it has often included a global awareness and intentional integration of Black Freedom Struggles abroad. This is true in my family, as well.
I keep seeing cool opportunities for creative writers. While I figure out what I can and cannot do (now), I am going to try to share more of these announcements* on my 3 AM IS THE NEW BLACK pages.
My first mentor-instructor meeting went well. During one exercise, he asked me about my poetry and invited me to say anything I wanted about it. Along with a series of now-forgotten utterances, I briefly mentioned being inspired by Rumi and Pablo Neruda. Then he asked me to read some of the poems I had submitted (that he had selected), and after I finished reading each one, he followed up by reading the same one that I had just done. It is hard to explain the impact, but the experience was affirming and reverberative. He also asked me to send additional writing samples, audio poems, video presentations, and other creative works - a request that showed that rather than cower in fear when offered a glimpse of my full portfolio of work, he was ready for the ride. Beep beep.
Sunshine and laughter, Reza Rites
*announcements are neither endorsements nor markers of affiliation.
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disastrid
