Liberation as a Daily Practice
By Asantewaa Boykin RN
The act of freeing oneself is an exercise of assertive faith. The definition of liberation or the act of liberating is subjective. Subjective to our lived experience, our access to resources and space to conceptualize the possibility of freedom. Our collective and individual paths to liberation will never be identical, but in order to achieve liberation one first has to believe in an “existence,” despite having no evidence that the said “existence” will ever materialize.
Imagine being born enslaved and deciding to flee into the night in search of a freedom that you have only heard exists. Only knowing for certain that failure would end in pain and most likely death and then choosing — to run anyway. This is assertive faith.
Passive faith would be the kind of faith that calls someone to pray and wait. To pray and not plan, to pray and not take action.
Before we embark upon a journey of liberation we first need to identify and understand the oppressive force, then be able to visualize and embody our liberated state apart from the oppressive force.
Self-determination in the absence of unnecessary harm (in my opinion) is what it means to be liberated. Understanding that my individual liberation and our collective liberation are interdependent.
The Oppressive Force
Create a narrative based on the below questions that are applicable to your current condition.
-What is the natural state of the oppressive force you/we want to be liberated from? Is it flesh (person), system (government), emotional (energy), or biological (addiction).
-Understand how the oppressive force holds power over you/us. e.g. “Anger prevents me from being strategic because I often react instead of strategizing.”
-How does the oppressive force maintain that power? Who or what bestowed the power upon or maintains the power of the oppressive force e.g. the police are empowered by the local city or county governments to have jurisdiction in my community.
-Identify weaknesses in this Chain of Power. e.g. If I wanted to escape from prison, I would have to identify an exploitable weakness in the security system, like a guard who has an addiction to a substance that I have access to.
Example:
I want to be liberated from feelings of self doubt. The natural state of self doubt is negative thoughts, emotions, or energy. Self doubt holds power over me when I believe the negative thoughts. That power is maintained when I engage in behavior that affirms these thoughts. My desire to be liberated from self doubt creates weakness in the Chain of Power.
The Liberated Self/Community
Create a narrative based on the below questions that are applicable to your current condition.
-What does your liberated self look like? e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, sexuailty, or none of the above. Most importantly these designations must be appointed, or not appointed, by you.
-What does your liberated self find joy in? Making art, dancing, cooking, writing, or resting?
-What does a liberated people/community look like, and how do you exist in it?
-What power have you/we obtained that allows you/us to maintain that liberated state?
Example:
My liberated self is a Black woman of western/central African ancestry. I live in a community where I and community members are free of the threat of incarceration and police. I enrich my community by creating art and artfully creating systems of care. I am free of addiction and have well developed health coping skills that are grounded in intense self-appreciation. I and my community are self-sustaining in the areas of food, housing, health, and education. We engage in cooperative economics centered around the barter or exchange of goods and services over the use of digital or paper currency.
Practice
Liberation as an act is an inherently spiritual practice. In the backdrop of most, if not all, social and political movements you will find a connection to spirituality. A perfect example is the visible re-emergence of “African Traditional Religions” inside popular social/political movements among Diasporic Africans in North America. In turn, we see that liberation is a common theme across spiritual practices e.g. Salvation, Redemption, Enlightenment, being in alignment with one’s Destiny, Nirvana, and Satori.
Practice: The actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it.
No matter what “practice” we choose or find ourselves drawn to, the most essential piece is to practice. Visualise, read, run, focus, and/or meditate. Find folks who feel the same or similarly and talk about it, create art that envisions it, read books about it, learn whatever you can, and put those theories into practice. Moving matter from one place or state to another place or state requires energy. In other words, moving ourselves from an oppressed state to a liberated state will require energy/movement/action, or assertive faith.
Collective Practice
It would be wonderful to accredit the tangible reality of Reparations solely to Dr. Weber. To do this would ignore the collective energy used to shift Reparations from a topic to a potential reality. How many times have you or someone you know said, “When that Reparations money hits, I’m going to. __________” or, “They ain’t never gonna give us Reparation,” or, “Reparations can or should look like ___________.” No matter what one is saying or thinking about the topic of Reparations, they are speaking about and focused on Reparations. This is essence of the term “Bringing attention (energy or focus) to an issue”
Individual Practice
What we focus on, we become. If we remain focused on our needs we will find ourselves in a constant state of needing. If we focus on abundance we will think, feel, and experience a state of abundance. This is how two people could have similar life experiences yet have differing perspectives, or witness the same incident and have different accounts.
Practice = Attention
Practice = Focus
Practice = Action
Find images, music, literature, fashion, or art that is a reflection of you in a liberated state. Allow yourself to feel it, smell it, visualize it, even dream about the liberated state. Since you’ve identified a weakness in the chain of power of an oppressive force in your life, exploit it! If you know that self-doubt is an oppressive force in your life and understand that negative thoughts empower that force, your desire to be free of those thoughts creates weakness in that Chain of Power! Then, everytime one of those thoughts comes up, call it a lie.
Never forget, opposition is a necessary force and should be expected specifically on a path of liberation. The presence of opposition or hardship is merely evidence of energies balancing themselves, meaning the oppressive force is being disrupted and attempting to maintain power. Take a deep breath, focus, then take action… your liberated self awaits! Ashe.
Free
What would it be like?
To throw. It all away,
Baggage emptied — burned.
Lay it all down
Then, walk into the light
In this life
This body and timeline
The aforementioned iteration of reality
Present dimension
This rotation
Around the sun
No boundaries
No limitations
No constructs
No boxes
No people
No gods
