{"id":89,"date":"2015-09-27T20:16:27","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T20:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/?p=89"},"modified":"2015-10-10T01:54:39","modified_gmt":"2015-10-10T01:54:39","slug":"they-reminisce-over-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/?p=89","title":{"rendered":"They Reminisce Over You: Remembering to Heal & Remembering to Prompt Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

“It is not enough to reunite with the people in a past where they no longer exist. We must rather reunite with them in their recent counter move which will suddenly call everything into question; we must focus on that zone of hidden fluctuation where the people can be found. For let there be no mistake, it is here that their souls are crystallized and their perception and respiration transfigured\u2026 When the colonized intellectual writing for his people uses the past he must do so with the intention of opening up the future, of spurring them into action and fostering hope.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frantz Fanon The Wretched of the Earth<\/em> (163- 167).<\/p>\n

In On National Culture<\/em>, Fanon highlights the tendency of the \u201ccolonized intellectual\u201d to look to the past \u201cin order to escape the supremacy of white culture,\u201d (155). In highlighting this truth, looking to the past becomes understood as a wanting practice. Fanon suggests a larger amount of energies be spent using the past as an aide in centering the present moment where the people become woke<\/a>, where they define themselves, where their agency molds the future.<\/p>\n

Reading this quote makes me think heavily about Harlem and healing. Why I think of Harlem, always, within landscapes of time\u2014 Harlem in the future, Harlem as I know it today, and, especially, Harlem in the past\u2014is a reflection of one of the ways I\u2019ve chosen to \u201cescape the supremacy of white culture,\u201d or, rather, one of the ways I\u2019ve chosen to heal. For this reason, reshaping Fanon\u2019s words to communicate the necessity of remembering the past, finding solace in history was most pressing. However, I wanted to do this in a way that recognized the value of centralizing the current experiences of the people and propelling them into action, as Fanon encourages, while placing emphasis on the relationship between remembering to heal and remembering to incite action.<\/p>\n

Spaces are where I hear changes in the voice of the speaker; (double) slashes highlight words and connecting phrases; dashes that engulf words are meant to create a level of erasure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

it is \u2013not- enuf\/<\/p>\n

to -re-unite with the people\/<\/p>\n

in a past\/ where they no longer exist<\/p>\n

we\/ \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 must -rather re-unite with them<\/p>\n

in their recent counter move\/<\/p>\n

which will suddenly call everything into question\/<\/p>\n

we must focus on that zone\/ \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 of\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 hidden \u00a0 fluctuation\/\/<\/p>\n

where the people can be found\/<\/p>\n

for let there be no mistake\/<\/p>\n

it is here \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 that their soulz are crystallized \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0& their perception n respiration transfigurd\/\/<\/p>\n

when the colonizd intellectual writin<\/p>\n

for his people<\/p>\n

uses the past he \/must\/ do so with the intention of openin up the future\/<\/p>\n

of spurring them inta action \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 & fosterin hope.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*I listened to a lot of beats while going through this week’s reading and while writing this post. Here are a few.<\/p>\n

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