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For The Wild

BRONTË VELEZ on the Necessity of Beauty, Part 2 [ENCORE] /274

For The Wild

For The Wild

Philosophy, Society & Culture, For The Wild, Anthropocene, Story Telling, Religion & Spirituality, Decolonization, Progressive, Liberation, Land, Media

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week we are rebroadcasting part two of our interview with brontë velez (they/them), originally aired in October of 2019. We dive into the capacity for pleasure amidst times of great uncertainty and historical oppression. What does “pleasure in the apocalypse” mean? As brontë defines it, pleasure is what makes us come alive, so how can we create a culture that is deeply attuned to our senses and directs our desire towards Earth and each other? By feeding our senses, how might we confront the isolation and industrialization of our bodies, while acknowledging the limitations of grief in that “suffering is not accountable to the Earth.”brontë’s work and rest is guided by the call that “black wellness is the antithesis to state violence” (Mark Anthony Johnson). As a black-latinx transdisciplinary artist, designer, trickster, educator and wakeworker, their eco-social art praxis lives at the intersections of black feminist placemaking, abolitionist theologies, environmental regeneration and death doulaship. they embody this commitment of attending to black health/imagination, commemorative justice (Free Egunfemi) and hospicing the shit that hurts black folks and the land through serving as creative director for Lead to Life design collective and ecological educator for ancestral arts skills and nature-connection school Weaving Earth. they are currently co-conjuring a mockumentary with esperanza spalding in collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony and stewarding land with their partner in unceded Kashia Pomo territory in northern California.Mostly, brontë is up to the sweet tender rhythm of quotidian black queer-lifemaking, ever-committed to humor & liberation, ever-marked by grief at the distance made between us and all of life —"Music by Jennifer Johns and members of the Thrive Choir and Jiordi Rosales on cello. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.Support the show

Transcript

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0:00.0

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Our Patreon offers listener's exclusive archival content, extended episodes, and access to

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0:46.5

Now on to part two of my conversation with Bronti Vales.

0:49.8

Bronti Vales, they them, is guided by the call that, quote,

0:57.2

black wellness is the antithesis of state violence. Mark Anthony Johnson. A black latinx trans

1:04.1

disciplinary artist and designer, they are currently moved and paused by the questions, quote,

1:09.6

how can we allow as much room for God to flow through and between us as possible?

1:14.9

What affirms the God of and between us? What is the way? How can we decompose what interrupts

1:22.3

our proximity to divinity? What ways can black feminist placemaking rooted in commemorative

1:28.0

justice promote the memory of God, which is to say love and freedom between us?

1:33.0

You know, we've previously discussed talking about the idea of pleasure in the apocalypse,

1:45.9

which I so often come up against the idea that we can't find joy because the world is burning,

1:53.2

and I know a lot of people feel that way, and that we can't be in our bodies because we need to

1:57.6

be in the struggle. And of course, I'm drawing upon so much of Adrian Marie Brown and Audrey

2:02.9

Lorde's work who negates this and proclaims that actually when we're in our pleasure, our capacity

2:10.5

is stronger because we can't be powerful if we are denying ourselves our full existence.

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