No matter how hard systems of oppression have tried – and will likely continue to try – they cannot extract us from our Ancestors. Our Ancestors are within us. We have their hands. We have their laughs. We have their badass intuition and curiosity. They loved us into being. We are because they were. No matter how hard the colonial project works, it will always fail at true extraction. Our Ancestors are within us, just as we are within them.
And that’s dope.
And that’s powerful.
And that’s a safety net.
And that’s protection.
And that’s a permission slip – no, a demand – to misbehave when the rules don’t make sense. When the rules make us sick. When the rules keep us stuck. Misbehave. Your Ancestors are daring you to do so.
I am – and always have been – susceptible to a dare. Sometimes I dare myself to get out of bed when my alarm goes off. I have dared my younger siblings to get me a glass of water because I know the power of using “dare” rather than just asking.
I was recently asked if I have been sitting at tables my Ancestors would have flipped. Honestly, probably. Admittedly, I am not ready for table flipping, but I did hear the “I dare you” in that question urging me to say more, do more, allow less. Misbehave a bit. I turn that question to you. Your Ancestors surely danced as their worlds were ending. So, when do you make time to dance? They held you in their dreams, so why are you doubting those dreams? Their instincts saved their lives. So trust yourself. You have their instincts. They gave them to you to use in service of a more harmonious, creative, gentle, thriving world.
Your Ancestors are daring you to build the world they, too, saw possible.
"Your Ancestors surely danced as their worlds were ending. So, when do you make time to dance? They held you in their dreams, so why are you doubting those dreams? Their instincts saved their lives. So trust yourself. You have their instincts. They gave them to you to use in service of a more harmonious, creative, gentle, thriving world." Stunning. Thank you for these potent words.