Remember to prioritize your pleasure. We can only bring about a revolution if we also feel it deeply in our physical bodies and in our imaginations! We are at the intersection of 4 crises: systemic racism, a pandemic, economic depression and ecological disaster. These crises are inflicting loss and pain on all, but especially on BIPOC communities.

We have a long road ahead to our liberation, and we can walk that path with joy, pleasure, and a commitment to reclaim our bodies, particularly in the age of racial capitalism where bodies of color are reduced to a resource.

Throughout history, BIPOC bodies have been assaulted, stolen, devalued and treated like commodities. In my own experience, my migrant parents worked multiple jobs and had to be hyper productive in order to survive in the USA. I developed abandonment issues because my parents had to be working nights, and I missed them so much I would cry myself to sleep.

My Afro-Peruvian women ancestors were domestic workers for most of their lives, serving the wealthy white Peruvians for little pay. My grandmother became pregnant as one of the wealthy Peruvian sons took advantage of her, she was a worker in the home. I know that I carry generational womb trauma and that is something that motivates me to heal my own womb.

I prioritize my body pleasure as a way to heal myself and heal the trauma of my ancestors. I love up on my genitals and explore them because I am the first generation in a long time to be able to do that without shame and punishment.

I am reclaiming my right to feel joy and to love my body, to unlearn all the messages that were passed down from generation to generation, messages that were a way to survive the pain of assault. I understand why my elders told me to keep my legs closed. But pain oriented stories cause damage. They must be acknowledged, healed and released, to make room for joy oriented stories.

Thank you to my wonderful friend Adrienne Maree Brown for giving us the language of Pleasure Activism. Thank you to my amazing friend Lotus Lain for playing fun games with me. Thank you Bobby Gordon for capturing our joy with your bad ass photography.