Coming to Light!

Saludos from this side of the solstice, the one where each day we call in more light. I am calling my own self to light after a month and a half of a universal “tate quieto” or shut down that had me underground. Poking my head out to this apocalyptic scenery, the instinct is to just go back down. But nah. We are being called out… called out in all the ways. Called out for our silence, complicit-ness, inaction. Called out for hiding, waiting, fearing, doubting. We have long been prepared for these times. We are being called out to do what we came to do, be what we came to be, fully, boldly.

On a technical tip, I admit to having this blog abandoned since starting the podcast. I miss writing in this way. Writing freely for myself to share on my own platforms. Free from constraints, confines, criticism. Free from grammatical conventions. So I will write more on here. Furthermore, I will be exploring a return to the luxury of life when our safe spaces and websites were autonomous zones back before social media reprogrammed the human brain. I have long been scaling back on social media. Now I know why, as the last few weeks of this political/ corporate capitalist circus have revealed. Since divesting and shutting down my old art website, I will get back to this one more while that one is in transition. In the meantime, please check out the Rematriating Borikén You Tube Channel where I am sharing podcast episodes, reflections and other rematriation voices. Most recently I have shared two episodes, 19-Light in these Times and 20-Light (a deeper reflection on the theme). You can also access through the Podcast tab on the menu of this site.

Coming to light is the theme for this month for all that is being revealed. We think of light as something positive, beautiful, but light also comes with shadows and great responsibility. To have transparency and clarity of all going on, of what’s happening behind the scenes can be shocking but is necessary for organizing, strategizing. In that spirit, I remember after Hurricane María, seeing roads and homes I didn’t know existed. So many downed trees revealed scenes that had been tucked away. When all that foliage grew back, there forever remained this eerily privileged sense of X-Ray vision. Knowing what lies beyond the trees, the veils. Seeing through the layers.

With each day growing longer, let the expanding light reveal the shadows. Know what you’re working with.

Light was the theme of our January gathering of the Trinchera de Ideas Rematriation conversation series. This monthly series happens every third Thursday from 5-7 PM at CucubaNación, my Mayaguez art space. The next conversation will be on Thursday, February 20^th with the theme of Rematriation and Black Liberation.

I leave you with this photo, also used for Episode 20 of the Podcast. Taken by my husband, that is us, crammed into the space between our refrigerator and stove, connecting our computers to that one power strip, plugged to about seven extensions running from our kitchen, down the side of our house, across our side patio, over the fence, across our neighbor’s side patio to their planta post-María. For two months, this is how we worked at night. For two months, their generous sharing of the electricity from their generator allowed us to plug in our fridge, a lamp, a fan and a tablet for the boys to watch saved videos. This is how we cooked and ate dinner. This is how the boys played. After they went to sleep, Ivan and I would cram into this space, como dos alumnos en sus pupitres, to work. I post this in the last hours of a hellacious January, in commemoration of this last week of January, 2018, when we finally received our electricity back following Hurricane María. Over four months of no electric light (cuz we be some shiny people always), 50+ days of no running water and one month of no cell signal. Six months no internet. Still, like before these things existed, we lived, we worked, we played, we loved. We intend to continue doing the same, just more wisely, intentionally, deliberately, radically.

Shine on…

Yasmin