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Last week, I wrote about collective liberation, and how the liberation of queer community is intricately tied to the collective liberation of all folx. I also talked about the embodied practice of turning toward: Turning toward the ongoing genocide in Palestine, Congo and Sudan, and turning toward the ongoing systemic oppression impacting the queer and trans community, in particular queer and trans folx of the global majority.
This week, I want to talk about rage. In particular, what Dr. Jen Mullan calls the right to rage. Historically, white supremacy and colonization has actively policed and stifled sacred rage, and dictated who can - and cannot - express rage. Particularly, for folx of the global majority, rage has been pathologized, problematized, and violently suppressed. Rage is an important messenger. Rage tells us when boundaries have been crossed, when injustices are unfolding, when action is necessary. Honoring and expressing rage is a pathway toward liberation, both internally and in the collective.
Rage is also tied into our ancestors. For queer and trans folx, individuals like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia River, Miss Major Griffin Grace, and Storme’ DeLavarie paved the way for our own liberation.
When it comes to embodiment, rage wants to be acknowledged and expressed in the body. Rage is also an understandable reaction when we turn toward the effects of racism, transphobia, genocide, and ongoing systemic oppression.
So, how do we embody and honor rage? And how do we use our own embodied privileges to uplift and fight for those who have less power and safety?
1) In exploring queer embodiment or rage, it’s important to understand the messages you have received about rage. How much power and privilege do you hold in your own identities that impacts how safe it is to express that rage? What are your own internal biases around who can and cannot express and embody rage? And how can you use your power and privilege to support those who walk through the world with less embodied safety?
”Freedom is also a practice and a responsibility. What will we do with it when we have it?” - Lady Phyll, black queer feminist
2) In turning toward sacred rage, learn more about your ancestors. The queer, trans and gender expansive folx who used their own rage to fight for liberation. The ancestors in your own lineage who paved the way for your current existence. Feeling into the grounding and action of our ancestors anchors us and provides a compass as we turn toward our own bodily experience. 3) Notice how rage feels in your body. Notice the textures, colors, qualities, sounds, movements. Welcome and meet the feeling by validating it. It makes so much sense to feel rage right now. Rage is an understandable response to the injustices we are witnessing in real time. 5) Let the energy of rage move through you via movement, dance, artistic expression, and sound.
6) One of my favorite somatic exercises for moving through rage is to push my hands against a wall while feeling my feet firmly braced on the ground. Coordinate pushing against the wall with your exhale, and repeat as many times as necessary to feel release. Once you feel that release, wrap your arms around yourself and gently sway in place, either while standing or sitting, as you start to feel back into the release that occurred. Some accommodations if standing and pushing against a wall isn’t accessible in your body: You can sit in a chair and push against a wall You can lie on your back and push against a wall with the bottoms of your feet You can sit in a chair and push down on the soles of your feet You can sit in a chair and squeeze something tight with your fists You can give your rage a color and texture, and envision releasing it with your breath
7) Honor your rage in community. Protesting, direct action, and being in community with others are all ways to honor your rage, feel into connection, and move toward collective liberation. 8) Make space for the feelings that accompany the rage. Often, rage is accompanied by grief, sadness and longing. These feelings belong, and they deserve to be honored in safe community. Here are some resources for honoring rage and honoring the BIPOC, queer and trans ancestors who came before us:
Article: SISTA! OUTSIDER: LADY PHYLL ON BLACK PRIDE, BLACK QUEER FEMINIST BELONGING, AND FREEDOM AS A RESPONSIBILITY AND PRACTICE
Podcast: Unlocking our sacred rage and connecting to ancestral trauma Video: The Rage Body with Dr. Ruth King
Podcast: Hidden Grief: The Rage Doctor For more information about my practice and my offerings, visit my website or email me. In solidarity,
Eula
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