The Gift of No: Clarity and Transformation

This morning I have been reading from "The Black Unicorn" by Audre Lorde...really struck this morning by how several of the poems in that collection end with a powerful statement of what is NOT

the black unicorn is not
free.

I am
woman
and not white.

I am
the sun and moon and forever hungry
the sharpened edge
where day and night shall meet
and not be
one.

I have died too many deaths
that were not mine.

for the embattled
there is no place
that cannot be
home
nor is.

what you know
can hurt
but what you do
not know
can kill.

Once
freed from constancy
this house
will not stand
forever.

May I owe nothing
that I cannot repay.

and of course...

we were never meant to survive.

So this morning I am thinking about the clarity of negativity. Of expressing what is not. Or what is, in its absence necessary to make present as a critical clarity, shaping what is. No can be miraculous. The liberating clarity of realizing who is NOT the right romantic partner for you, what is NOT a fulfilling way to spend your time, that a particular job is not worthy of your brilliance, that a particular social drama is NOT worth your attention.

Or more specifically... I am ready to express some clarity. I am not willing to bequeath a world to my children where Palestine is not free. Where health, and education, and food, and shelter are not acknowledged as collective concerns. Where rape is. Where people starve in rich nations. So what does it mean to act accordingly? What does it mean to honor no?

Quirky Black Girls are not willing to conform, and are not willing to settle for the society we have been handed by capitalism.

Special shouts out to all of the new members these past couple of weeks...email quirkyblackgirls@gmail.com if you'd like to be featured on the site or if you have a project you'd like us to draw some attention to!

Here in Durham we are kicking off the Lucille Clifton ShapeShifter Survival School based on the clarity and consensus that we do NOT want Child Sexual Abuse to continue as a cycle of domination in our communities. Find out more about the 4 components of the ShapeShifter Survivial School here: http://blackfeministmind.wordpress.com/survival-school/

Also to hear me talking about the power of Audre Lorde's refusal to NOT be her whole self on NPR...check this out!: http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0628abc10.mp3/view

The world truly is not safe from its own transformation with Quirky Black Girls on the scene.
Corrine Stevie is not willing to leave the game unchanged. Join other QBG's in celebrating her collaborative musical genuis at this release party! :http://quirkyblackgirls.ning.com/events/qbg-corinne-stevie-land-of-the

Also here in the south we are not willing to let another Black Gay Pride happen unquirkified! Come help us plan how to quirk out the Black Pride Festival this Labor Day Weekend here! http://quirkyblackgirls.ning.com/group/qbgmusicfestival/forum/topics/queerly-happy-test-pilot

And in ATL a crew of people of color are not willing to let the concept of monogamy go unchallenged. Join the conversation in person at this event for people of color talking about polyamory: http://quirkyblackgirls.ning.com/events/people-of-color-talking

With love not limited by time or space (i.e. always)
QBG Lex