To the women who find us, seek us, and see us, when no one else is looking...

Words, As Fruit. #32

I do a lot of grappling when writing because, as Toni Cade Bambara has written, “Words set things in motion. […] Words set up atmospheres, electrical fields, charges.” More now than ever before, I am careful not just with what I set down on the page but what I place and allow within my mind, what I am giving thought, time, space and attention and how these thoughts, and these times are shaping and changing me.

Today, International Women’s Day, I am thinking about, and grappling with, what, who and how we, who choose to acknowledge and celebrate this day, do so. As synchronicity would have it, March 8th is my mother’s birthday so, I celebrate this day regardless, but today I think beyond my mother, her mother, and her mother, and all the mothers within my lineage and bloodlines, both known and unknown. Today, I woke up with this thought, a reminder for myself and others who genuinely wish to acknowledge and celebrate women.

If, in our celebration of women, we are not thinking about, acknowledging, mentioning, honoring, welcoming, inviting, and bringing into rooms, and spaces, women seen, and unseen, heard, and unheard, silenced, repressed and censored, women known, and unknown, women within AND beyond our immediate circles, communities, and spheres, then we aren’t really celebrating women, we are celebrating some women.

In honor of the women I know, and women whom I do not know, I share this peace (yes peace) from my written archives. And, though there is an end to the words written here, I know that collectively our gratitude is endless. I invite anyone reading to add to this, and share your own words and offerings of gratitude.

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To the women who find us, seek us, and see us, when no one else is looking,

I write out this gratitude.

To the women who use their voices, even as long reaching arms, pockets, and hands of oppressive systems try to quiet and silence them, I write out this gratitude.

To the women who speak words, sing songs, write lines, brush strokes, craft stories, develop pictures, mold earth, and reshape language so we can tell and transcribe emotions too big, too deep, too painful, too rage filled, for others to conceive of, hold or understand,

To the women whose presence allows us to breathe, and open our eyes, lift veils, and see through lies,

To the women who resurrect silenced and buried truths, giving them wings so we can thrive,

To the women who have risked their lives, setting their own privileges and freedoms on the line for the sake of another’s present and future freedoms, and life,

To the women who create space, and take time to teach us, show us, hold us, feed, nurture, and love us,

To the women whose prayers we have entered,

To the women whose hopes and dreams we are centered within,

To the women whose gazes cover us, whose arms embrace us, whose weight anchors us,

To the women whose hearts hold our hands,

To the women whose work within their lifetimes has left us with legacies and eternal life lines,

To the women whose fight for freedoms have released us, relieve us, and made a way for us to build tables where our seats have already been bought, paid for and prepared for us,

To the women who delight in us,

To the women who find joy in us,

To the women who remind us that joy is us,

To the women whose wounds and scars act as doorways for us to dance, sashay and sway our ways through, and open up the skies for us to see and reach to,

To the women whose reach back has provided ways forward,

To the women burning bridges for the sake of creating paths,

To the women who take up space so that room is made for others to sit, stand and stay next to them,

To the women who amplify us when others are hellbent on weakening, diminishing, and erasing us,

To the women whose efforts and contributions have been left out of his-stories and headlines,

To the women whose present and future visions are too big for small minds,

To the women who carry us within the reflections of their own eyes,

To every woman, seen, and unseen, heard, unheard, ignored and silenced, forgotten, known, and unknown,

You are welcomed, you are invited, and this gratitude is written out in honor, and celebration of you.