Fleshy Conversations With/for/Among Women of Color: A Performance Workshop About Spiritual Activism in Public Education

• In Event: Fleshy Conversations With/For/Among WoC: A Performance Workshop About Spiritual Activism in Public Education

Abstract

Objectives of the session
• To introduce participants to the Latinx feminista ideas of spiritual activism and theorizing in the flesh as a way of sustaining social justice work in education
• To demonstrate mindbodyspirit connections through artistic performance and individual meditative practices
• To facilitate a reflection discussion to identify support structures that integrate mindbodyspirit-rooted work into sustaining social activism in education

Overview of the presentation
This session consists of a multisensory, interactive performance where we discuss Moraga and Anzaldua’s (1981) concept of theorizing in the flesh, through storytelling, poetry, danza and guided meditation. We connect these practices to mindbodyspirit-rooted (Lara, 2002) social justice work.

Scholarly or scientific significance
Here, we attempt to bridge the contradictions in our experience:
We are the colored in a white feminist movement.
We are the feminists among the people of our culture.
We are often the lesbians among the straight.
We do this bridging by naming our selves and by telling our stories in our own words.
--Moraga and Anzaldua 1981

In the excerpt above Moraga and Anzaldua (1981) describe a theory in the flesh, making explicit the often ignored interconnectedness of our multiple selves. Referring to the intersectionality of our identities, they expand on the ways in which this bridging work is felt in our bodies, minds and spirits. Within institutions that marginalize and fragment bodies and communities, it is important to recognize and nurture bodymindspirit connections (Facio & Lara, 2014; Moraga & Anzaldua, 1981) as a process of reflection that transcends and embodies “activismo, investigación, y desarollo personal” (Paiva, 1993, p .135).  Anzaldua named this interface “spiritual activism” (Keating, 2008). Often ignored in academic discourses, it beckons expression through multiple modalities. The arts have been this medicine for communities of color in the United States, a way to shake off the insidiousness of oppression, to voice both pain and suffering, beauty and ecstasy, share our embodied stories, and truth-tell (Jenoure, 2000; Kelley, 2002; Rivera, 2003).  We add these understandings to the Education literature and within schooling contexts as a way to more holistically engage students and educators, who undertake their respective work with as cultural workers and community bridges.

Structure of the session
This session will follow a non-traditional format that includes discussion, performance and interactivity with audience members. There will be three components to this session 1) Theoretical framing 2) Performance and practices 3) Dialogue and closing.  During the first part of the session, we will introduce the ideas of Anzaldua and Moraga’s theorizing in the flesh and spiritual activism within a story-telling framework. We will discuss the role that connecting the body, mind and spirit has on our work towards a socially just public education.  The second part of the session consists of panelist performances and practices (with audience participation), including spoken word poetry, drumming and danza [an ancient spiritual, music and movement practice, an embodied prayer for our contemporary context] and a guided meditation exercise.  Finally, there will be a chance to discuss these performances and practices in relation to participants’ own lives and settings.

Authors

• Margarita I. Berta-Avila, California State University - Sacramento

• Jennifer Ayala, Saint Peter's University

• Antonia Darder, Loyola Marymount University

• Melissa Rivera, Hunter College - CUNY

• Patricia D. Lopez, California State University - Fresno