05/29/2020
This past year i was privileged to be a part of a research team headed by a black woman, conducting research about black women. As black women myself, I know we often have to FIGHT for a seat at the table. When we finally get that seat at the table, we usually pick up the mantle and make space for others, incredibly resilient, caring, forward thinking individuals that we know deserve to be here too.
I was also privileged to be a part of the Velvet Fist Project by Ellen Lesperance, wearing “The Celebrations and Congratulations” sweater myself & with my team. The battle-axe sweater is a symbol of feminist and le***an strength, and has been worn by many individuals across the nation as a protest in itself. Ellen Lesperance knitted this sweater with the intention that it should be circulated to any person interested in wearing it for a personal act of courage. The idea is that this sweater will provide the wearer strength and courage, a gift and a transmission of energy from the artist, and from the accumulated energy of past participants in the project.
The full title of the “Congratulations & Celebrations” project is “Congratulations on Every Section of Fence Ever Pulled or Cut Down, on Every Minute in Police Custody, and on Every Day in Prison. Celebrations for Every Police Vehicle Marked, Challenged, Stopped! Congratulations and Celebrations!” — incredibly celebratory of things that we sadly do not typically celebrate. It is a reminder that there is honor to be given to people who disrupt routine civic life in order to make injustice known.
The same racism that crushes the necks of unarmed black men with their knee is the same racism that has ravaged the bodies of black women throughout centuries, with black women’s bodies essentially founding the very field i hope to practice in, OBGYN. I am smiling here but hurting inside for black men, black women, black children. I shall remain committed to the cause. I shall not be paralyzed by helplessness. May my rage be actionable. May my rage bear fruit. SAY THEIR NAMES. @ Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing