Art, Death, and Grief

Jamika and Katy turn to the art of the essay for healing, processing, and metabolizing grief, as our community and country faces compounding trauma and tragedy. “Joy is not the opposite of grief. Grief is...

Jamika and Katy turn to the art of the essay for healing, processing, and metabolizing grief, as our community and country faces compounding trauma and tragedy.

“Joy is not the opposite of grief. Grief is the opposite of indifference. Grief is an evolutionary indicator of love — the kind of great love that guides revolutionaries.” – Malkia Devich-Cyril

Topics this episodes include: gun violence, Tacoma politics, running for office, pandemic, collective existential crises, the murder of Iyana Ussery, death denial, the cult of productivity, relational culture, the unknown,

Shout outs include: art as revolution, marijuana, bodily functions, crying, reading books, journaling, journaling at the club, Malkia Devich-Cyril, Adrienne Maree Brown, Andre Henry, joy, tattoos, Target, therapy, metabolizing sorrow, dogs, dancing, honoring inspiration.

References:

Support Iyana’s family
Grief Belongs in Social Movements, Can we Embrace It? by Malkia Devich-Cyril
Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation by Adrienne Maree Brown
All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep: Hope–and Hard Pills to Swallow–About Fighting for Black Lives by Andre Henry

Photo by Jamika Scott