paintings from memory

“it is difficult to be a rememberer – living in the heart of the empire – when the status quo has people suffering from a collective cultural amnesia that keeps many ungrounded and easily misguided, but remembering, knowing, and understanding the truths of the past strengthens our ability to navigate, vision, and to create futures.

when we gather, tell stories, remember together, we tap into an already existing network of roots and mycelium. they show us what has existed, what has been done, how things may play out. if we remember, we won't fall into the same patterns – an unnecessary cycle – that our ancestors worked through so we wouldn’t have to.”

-excerpt from an upcoming zine titled consciousness rooting

radical imaginings that our future generations will know our histories, our truths, and discern the reality of our present, so we may navigate these unknown waters 🌊 that lay ahead of us.

the Pilipinx Radical Imagination Reader ‬dialogue was inspiring & grounding amidst this intense time. the crisis & pandemic puts many of us marginalized peoples in an even more vulnerable situation. a helpful reminder that “What keeps us out of shock, is knowing our history.” - Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine.

it’s important for everyone to stay grounded in these tumultuous times as capitalism, cisheteropatriarchy, white supremacy, and oppressive systems are threatened. we have the opportunity to transform, shift, create our futures…which may not come into existence in our lifetime. this is work and a journey for the long haul.

The Pilipinx Radical Imagination Reader covers a spectrum of topics including identity, sexuality, anti-blackness, whiteness, mixed heritage, diaspora, the hood, cooking, and foodways and this community dialogue had speakers and attendants from the Philippines, Australia, New York, Chicago & California.

the book is available at pilipinxreader.com & there’s talk of a second anthology!