Feminist? Womanist? Male Feminist? Humanist?...Call It What You Like

Wednesday was the first day of our workshop series for young women and guess what?



It looks like some young men are eager to join us as well. And not just as participants, but as collaborators.

This is great news but raises some questions for us to consider. BlackLight began as a female-led initiative. This does not mean, however, that we exclude males or are only interested in female uplift. In fact, the opposite is true. BlackLight has been, and will always be, about healing and empowering our community. And by community we mean ALL YA'LL! So, in addition to some very talented and energized young sisters, we also had Jason join us who is interested in getting some of his other male friends involved. Our hope is that these young men will enable us to extend our reach and speak to more people.

BlackLight is on fire!

So, since Bry-ee could not make it to this first workshop, I talked to her today about what happened on Wednesday and how many new members we have ready to support and add their unique voices. When I mentioned Jason, Bryee and I got into a conversation about feminism and what it means to be a feminist. Can men be feminists? Do WE even define ourselves as feminists? Do we take up Alice Walker’s terminology, womanist? Do any of these terms have relevance in the work we do?
Bry-ee is 21 years old and does not consider herself a feminist. She does not like the term because she feels it conveys male bashing. Bry-ee also feels that the things holding her back have little to do with her female status. Interesting, huh? Especially considering our mission (see right panel). This just proves to me how practice and theory, perceptions and actions can often co-exist in odd tensions.



Although I am all about social justice on a broad scale, I do understand (on both a deeply personal and theoretical level) how gender impacts life chances, especially as it interacts with race and economic status. I also readily admit that race is often more at the center of my consciousness as I make my way through the world. Do I consider myself a feminist? A humanist? An intersectionalist? It gets complicated sometimes but I am glad that I have the opportunity to think about these issues with the young women of BlackLight and be challenged by their contemporary understandings of what it means (and doesn’t mean) to be young, black and female in Detroit in 2007.

Where do you stand?

Professor Mark Anthony Neal reflecting on his own upbringing says that “there was rarely an instance when we even remotely thought about how gender, or even sexuality, complicated the experience of those of us who weren’t male.” He also citesAudre Lorde who makes the statement that “Sons - boys have no role models - Our girls have us as positive role models - the boys have nothing - they are trail blazers - they are making their own definition of self as men.”

Well, on Thursday, Jason stepped up to the open mic and dropped knowledge on what it means to be a man. In Jason’s words, “being a man means not being afraid to cry on someone's shoulder or to ask for help when you need it. Being a man means not being afraid to ask for a job application and do more than hang on the streets, even if your friends make fun of you. Being a man means being able to express yourself.”

Jason told me that he learned these things from his father and feels bad for those young men who don’t have male role models. Jason, like Audre Lorde, fears for what some young men's own definitions of self says about their lack of support and guidance.

Yes, we are very happy to have Jason and other young men as a part of BlackLight, whether they consider themselves male feminists, supporters, collaborators or just young men with something to say. Terminology seems less important than intentions.

What do you think?

BlackLight in the Academy - What Does it Mean to be Healthy?

BlackLight doin what we do at the University of Michigan...

Last Friday BlackLight participated in the Arts & Health session at University of Michigan’s Arts & Minds Conference. The other participants in our session included performance artist, Devora Luemark; professor of English and community artist, Petra Kuppers; playwright and performance artist, Neil Marcus and studio artist, Anne Mondro. When we were asked to join this group of scholars and artists in exposing the relationship between art and health, we had to think about what our arts practice means as a healing and transformative space for us, and for those we reach out to in our local and global communities.

There are the obvious, immediate health benefits that we feel on a physical level after we have danced together or used our writing to work through a difficult, seemingly unresolvable problem – the lightness and fluidity of our limbs and the new headspace opened up when we release our thoughts on paper. But, what does art have to do with health beyond this? And why do we instinctively believe that the work we do on both the individual and the social level is moving towards a universal well being?



Well, let’s use Detroit as an example. To put it bluntly, times are tough for a lot of folks. You don’t have to turn on the news or read the paper to understand this. You can see it in peoples' faces and hear it in their voices. This is the strain of struggle and the wearing down of resolve in the face of ever present obstacles. We see fourteen-year-old girls that look forty, we see young boys afraid to be young boys but scared to death of what might happen if they don’t appear to be men, we see mothers tired…just tired, and men who never stop working. We witness the toll that urban living takes on others, but it affects all of us. If we stop to look, really look, into each others’ faces we might be shocked by the reflection of our own battle fatigued expressions. But, more than the struggle, there is light and hope, beauty and vibrancy in our city. We don’t hear too much about this because it doesn’t really make for exciting news, but it does exist in each one of us.

This is the light that BlackLight taps into as a way to get back to the health and healing that we all need in order to continue to fight for justice in this world.

So what does art have to do with this? Art and creative expression are all about finding the light, finding that deeply rooted, resourcefulness. In locating our own power to speak, move, and use our being to create something new or to express our reality, we become more whole. We can only be truly healthy when we are whole and understand that we have the power to act and make a positive impact in the world. Art allows us to see this. Art allows us to experiment and try on a new way of living and being. Art allows us to see what a healthy and life affirming world might look and feel like.

It was interesting for us to be a part of the conference at the U of M. We noticed that it is difficult for some academics to step out of the “lecture zone” and think about how to really engage the participants. It seems hard for some people to think about knowledge as something that is shared and not necessarily imparted from one, singular all-knowing source (you know who you are). During our session, we got the group of about 50 people up, moving, writing and dancing with each other. Afterwards, during the Q and A session, several people talked about how challenging it was for them to pay attention to their bodies and to consciously think about embodying different thoughts and emotions. We talked about how the disconnect between mind, body, spirit and intention is a threat to our health and ability to be effective agents of change.

Deep stuff, huh? We’d love to hear your thoughts on all of this.

Do you feel better when you are able to creatively express yourself? Do you feel the weight of problems in your community affecting your physical, mental and emotional health? How can we take steps to create more compassionate, healing spaces in our everyday lives?

Speak to us, we are here!

Strength & Love,

BlackLight