READING GROUP IS NOW FULL! Filling out the registration form will add you to the waitlist.
Audre Lorde wrote in
A Burst of Light, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." The concept of self-care was further explored by Lorde's contemporaries; Black feminists wrote about care as an activist practice, one that emphasizes the need to protect against and heal from a racist, sexist, homophobic, capitalist society. Black feminism explores the kinship between self-care and community care, and by extension, community accountability.
Today, self-care is often promoted as a project to manage individual stress in order to increase one's productivity. This reading group, facilitated by
Marian Jones and
Natalie Adler, explores the Black feminist roots of self-care and how the concept became co-opted and marketed. Engaging classic texts by
Audre Lorde and
bell hooks alongside contemporary writers like
adrienne maree brown, Abeni Jones, and
Nick Mitchell, the group will take a Black socialist feminist approach to explore the concepts of community care, work, activist burnout, and self-love, leaving participants with tools to engage in radical care.
This reading group will take place over Zoom. Syllabus here:
https://tinyurl.com/BlackFeministSelfCare
Marian Jones is the former political education coordinator of the NYC-DSA Socialist Feminist Working Group. Marian has drafted syllabi on Black feminism, reproductive justice, and prison abolition. She is currently a member of the NYC DSA Steering Committee.
Natalie Adler has a PhD in Comparative Literature from Brown University. Her interests include Marxist feminism, queer theory, and poetry. She is currently working on a novel.
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