I have been engaged in the act of dreaming of Black futures, dreams, and flourishing. There is so much chaos going on in the world today and so many have made a binary out of lament and hope. We can and often do…both.
and are some people that I love and wanted to collaborate with on this topic. In fact, here is post from last week:Sit back, relax, and enjoy this musing from the wonderful
(and get her new book :)There is an app on my phone, Phases of the Moon, that my kids ask almost everyday to look at. My youngest says, “Can I look at the moon on your phone?” This, admittedly, feels weird because the moon, in fact, cannot be captured in her wholeness on my phone. It’s just an advanced facsimile. Most of the time, I acquiesce and they often get under the covers that I am resting in and proceed to loudly explore this app about the moon.
There is an interesting feature that allows you to see the moon phases backwards and forwards a century. My oldest scrolls to her birthday on a random year, prompting her to ask me, “How old will I be in 2086?” I think, and reply, “Seventy.”
Only 70.
In 2086, on her birthday under a waxing gibbous moon that is illuminated at 82%, my daughter is surrounded by Beloveds - including her younger brother - being celebrated for rolling into a new, ripe decade of flourishing. If I know anything about my daughter that has always been true, she will be so stylish that night. The younger guests - and by younger I mean those in their 30s - cheer her on cause they know she always shows up in her best best. She’s adorned in her favorites, wearing jewelry from each of us before her, all the way back to her great great grandmother.
My son is the MC. Not against his will, exactly, but you gotta know that in theatre camp, his sister was the one on stage and he was in the light and sound booth. He’s kind, honest, funny, sharp, and tells stories of our family that brings tears to everyone’s eyes. At the end of it all, he warns them that in two years, when he turns 70, they better not throw him a damn party.
Only 70.
She would have helped bury so many bodies that she Loved in the ground by then - including mine, her dads, grandparents, aunties, and uncles. She would have co-created a life with so many, connected to the earth and the stars in ways that could never be severed. She would have seen her share of heartbreak - interpersonally and internationally. She also would have witnessed and embraced the more-than-human Way that had been re-imagined and re-birthed from the societal turmoil happening during her childhood. She would be on record as saying, “I feel most human here, in the more-than-human Way.”
70.
My internal vision is vivid and quick, so you have to understand something: I see all of this in a flash. In the fractions of a second after I answer my daughter’s question how old will I be in 2086, I envision the life I want her to have had, and the life I want her to be walking into. It’s one of depth, of flourishing, of Love and of wonder. One that has seen and experienced much, and that much has shaped her. I want, for her, an ease in moving in earth-based ways and an unapologetic being-of-herself. I want her safety - not from the human experience itself, but from the worst of what humanity does to un-human itself.
In 2086, I plan for this body to be decaying back into the earth (let it be noted that I want to be buried nude in the root bulb of a giant tree. Not one that bears fruit cause…ew). I plan to be an ancestor and guide to my children and others, whispering the truths of the universe to their intuition. And for my children, a blessing: May they be alive and living. May they be Loved and Loving. May my son and daughter look back over their lives and name the goodness of it all, and may they recall the utter joy of sitting with their mama all those years ago marveling with giggles under cozy covers at the rhythmic phases of the moon who proved steady a presence every time they looked up.
Please go ahead and preorder her book Welcome, Wonder: A Season of Practices to Curate an Awe-Filled Life and enjoy a peek of her cover below:
Thank you for inviting me to the collab cookout! 😂 What an honor to be alongside you three in this! #BlackFutures2086
This: “I want her safety - not from the human experience itself, but from the worst of what humanity does to un-human itself.”
🙏🏻