RADICAL SELF-CARE AS RESISTANCE + ACTIVISM

CLOSE YOUR EYES. DRINK A GLASS OF WATER. SUPPORT A BLACK, WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS. CALL A FRIEND. DELIVER FOOD OR A DESSERT TO A FRIEND’S DOOR STEP. PICNIC IN THE PARK. LOOK AT ONLINE COMEDY SPECIALS. FIND AND TAKE A WALK TO A MINORITY-OWNED BAKERY. MAKE AN EXTRA SIGN TO GIVE AWAY AT A PROTEST. READ A BOOK BY A BLACK AUTHOR. LOOK AT CUTE VIDEOS ONLINE. LIGHT A CANDLE. BURN SOME SAGE. MEDITATE. TURN OFF SOCIAL MEDIA. SEND A POSTCARD. WRITE A LETTER TO SOMEONE YOU CAN’T SEE NOW. WRITE “FORGIVE YOURSELF” ON SOME PAPER AND BURN IT. SPEND 30 MINUTES DOING YOGA. TAKE A DIGITAL DAY-OFF. WRITE AFFIRMATIONS IN CHALK ON THE SIDEWALK. MAKE PROTEST ART. WATCH VIDEOS OF CIVIL RIGHTS ICONS. WATER YOUR PLANTS. DIG INTO DIRT. DO SOME STRETCHES. GO FOR A BIKE RIDE. COOK SOMETHING DELICIOUS. LET SOMEONE ELSE DO THE COOKING. BLAST YOUR FAVORITE SONG. DANCE TO THAT SONG. ENJOY THE BREEZE. STOP TO SMELL THE ROSES. DISTRIBUTE FOOD AT A FOOD PANTRY. WRITE A POEM. WRITE A SONG. WRITE ABOUT A HAPPY MEMORY. APPLY FOR A BETTERPAYING JOB. REARRANGE YOUR ROOM. MAKE A SCRAPBOOK. COMPLETE AN ONLINE TUTORIAL FOR A NEW SKILL. RECORD YOUR PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS TALKING ABOUT THEIR LIFE. SIGN UP TO WRITE POSTCARDS TO VOTERS. DO NOTHING. PLAY VIDEO GAMES. WATCH A MOVIE. BREATHE. RESIST. REPEAT.

Audre Lorde, Pioneer of Radical Self-Care:

For Audre Lorde, being Black, gay, and a woman meant facing three times as many challenges for merely existing. In her writings and practice, she championed selflove as a kind of armor against a hostile world and a way to envision something better for all of us.

“Caring for myself is not selfindulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

– Audre Lorde

Not Just a Hashtag:

Today, many confuse self-care with “wellness,” an industry more interested in selling you something rather than your well-being, whose marketing has been toxic to many, especially young women and girls. Here are four famous people’s views on the real meaning of self-care:

“I do for myself exactly what I would do for you — make a lovely cup of tea, or a hot bath, or go buy myself a fabulous pair of socks. I do loving things for me, stroke my own shoulder, put myself down for a short nap, and the insight follows: that I am a wild precious woman, a human merely being, as E. E. Cummings put it, deserving of respect, tenderness, protection, delight, and solidarity.”

“You know what? Especially with women, we are usually the caretakers of everyone except for ourselves. If I don’t take care of myself and I’m taking care of my daughter or my husband or whatever — I’m running on fumes. I have nothing left to give. Nothing. But when I take the time to take care of myself… I feel like I can face life with a renewed vigor.”

– Viola Davis – Anne Lamott, writer

“Self-care and healing and attention to the body and the spiritual dimension—all of this is now a part of radical social justice struggles.”

– Angela Davis “For me, self-love is like, Am I sleeping enough? Eating well? Not: Am I eating well to be able to fit into my skinny jeans? But: Am I eating well to be healthy and strong? And to acknowledge the good, because there is always a lot of good.”

Not Just for Women:

– Kerry Washington

That self-care is often dismissed as feminine shows just how much men need it too. Young men in particular are susceptible to toxic masculinity that sets them up for years of anxiety and misplaced emotions – that harms them and people closest to them. 19