Re-written, Re-read, Unbound & Unafraid: A reading & writing series

2400 Coral Street,Philadelphia PA 19125

13 March, 2022

Description

A FREE deep reading and creative writing series where we read Black women authors and (re)write our own stories to find courage and freedom “And as your body begins to feel like a home, your courage grows.” — Lyra in Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies There are so many reasons we don’t feel at home in our own bodies. One, as Tamura Lomax writes: “From black venus to jezebel sluts to ‘ain’t loyal’ hos, black women are miswritten” in black pop and church culture. We are also misread. What does it mean to be miswritten and misread? To be constantly objectified and reduced to stereotypes and tropes? How has it impacted the way you see yourself, how you feel about your blackness, your womanhood, your body? How does it influence the clothes you choose, the way you move, how you live? How do you move to a place where your body feels like a home and your courage grows? In this series, we’ll explore those questions and more as we read Black women authors and (re)write our own stories. Inspired by Black women’s fiction, poetry, and religious studies scholarship, we’ll challenge Black church and Black pop culture stereotypes and write our own visions of freedom and boldness. This class series is FREE! I’ll supply the books, journals, pens, discussion questions, and writing exercises; you bring yourself, your experiences, and a willingness to become unbound and unafraid. When: March 13th & 27th; April 10th & 24th; May 7th & 22nd 3:00 - 5:00 pm Where: Franny Lou’s Porch, 2400 Coral Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125 We’ll be out on the porch if it’s warm enough, indoors and upstairs if it isn’t. Masks will be required indoors. Space is very limited, and PROOF OF VACCINATION IS REQUIRED FOR PARTICIPATION. About the texts: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions. Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000, by Lucille Clifton Winner of the National Book Award for Poetry. Library Journal calls these poems “economical slices of ordinary life, celebrations, if you will, of African American existence. With simple language and common sense, [Lucille Clifton] writes of grace, character, and race by way of the personal and familiar.” Clifton keeps it simple, keeps it real, and keeps us uplifted. Jezebel Unhinged: Loosing the Black Female Body in Religion & Culture, by Tamura Lomax In Jezebel Unhinged Tamura Lomax traces the use of the jezebel trope in the black church and in black popular culture, showing how it is pivotal to reinforcing men's cultural and institutional power to discipline and define black girlhood and womanhood, and how black women and girls resist, appropriate, and play with the stereotype's meanings. Healing the black church, Lomax contends, will require ceaseless refusal of the idea that sin resides in black women's bodies, thus disentangling black women and girls from the jezebel narrative's oppressive yoke. About the Instructor: Hi! I'm Mariam Williams, and I write to find answers, dance to find joy, and teach to build and grow in community. I have an MFA in creative writing, and I used to write book reviews. I also teach dance fitness. I started the Black WRAP in 2019, and I'm able to provide this series for free thanks to a generous grant from The Leeway Foundation. The mission of Black WRAP is to build radical self-love in, and affirm the resilience of, Black women, other women of color, and other participants, by using literature, writing, and dance that center Black women's experiences.