rootbound spring newsletter • may 23, 2021
rüt-baūnd - having roots formed into a dense, tangled mass that allows little or no space for further growth. these plants have a natural tendency to become root-bound, with their roots growing in a spiraling mass.
rootbound is an ever-growing concept—currently, rootbound acts as a digital space for black queer people, but we hope to expand into a physical space within the next few years. this seasonal newsletter serves as an introduction to who we are: a black queer organization that centers black life, art, relations, and issues at the forefront.
spring 2021
welcome to our seasonal newsletter! we hope you enjoy our specially curated spring newsletter that features a catalog of music, art, and writings by black people. if you like us, be sure to spread the word to others and we look forward to connecting again with you for our next seasonal newsletter.
Sylvia Wynter
artist's spotlight
Sylvia Wynter is a Jamaican multidisciplinary artist; while genre-less at her core, she is a novelist, dramatist, theorist, critic, philosopher, essayist, dancer, poet, and actress. In her written work, she contends with Black Studies and academia, history, film and literature, philosophy, and culture. Central to her expansive oeuvre, is her critiques of the western concept of the "Human" or the classes of "Man" and her dedication to using language to create new realities. Through her extensive study of the natural sciences, humanities, art, and anti-colonial practices and concepts, she explores what she labels as the "overrepresentation of Man." As a student of and teacher of Black Caribbean thoughts and methods, she is heavily influenced by the works of Franz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, and Édouard Glissant, to name a few. Wynter's work encourages us to think critically and expand our understanding through language.
Wynter's work spans over decades and includes everything from performance to prose. Central to her work is interrogating the concepts of humanism, gender, academia, religion, and more through various psychoanalytical lens and frameworks. We have constructed a database of Wynter's work through the are.na app. We have also included Wynter's texts: "On How We Mistook the Map for the Territory, and Re-imprisoned Ourselves in Our Unbearable Wrongness of Being, of Désêtre" and "No Humans Involved: An Open Letter to My Colleagues" here. These are two texts that have guided us in our studies and have served as an introduction to her body of work. The two texts reflect on the themes that Wynter's work often explores.
are.na great website & app for the study of a wide range subjects
"In that first encounter, however, if, as Ralph Ellison noted in Invisible Man, the invisibility of the black person as another human individual is an invisibility that has nothing to do with the person in question but, rather, with one prescribed by the "inner eyes with which we look with our physical eyes upon reality," with the further implication here that Du Bois's (1903) systematic experience of being "a problem" has nothing to do with himself but, rather, has to do with the specific construction of an order of consciousness or "inner eyes" in which he must always already be classified as a problem." (Wynter 148) Millennials Are Killing Capitalism Podcast Millennials are Killing Capitalism spoke with Dr. Bedour Alagraa, an Assistant Professor of Black Political and Social Theory in the department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, to break down Wynter's work and legacy. Listen here. Additionally, Dr. Alagraa spoke with Wynter about her work on the Offshoot Journal, titled "What Will Be The Cure?: A Conversation with Sylvia Wynter," which is available here. Wynter's unpublished manuscript, Black Metamorphosis, is a critical piece for Black Studies. Spanning over 900 pages, the construction of the novel began in the early 70s and has since seen multiple iterations. Dr. Bogeuos, a professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, spoke of preparing Wynter’s critical manuscript, alongside Wynter and students, for publication. Watch here.
nook
a collection of poetry, film & video, fiction & non-fiction pieces that we love.
"Poem for Haruko" - poem by June Jordan
"Desire" - fiction by Adeniyi Ademoroti
"Recreation" - poem by Audre Lorde
"Manifest" - fiction by 'Pemi Aguda
"Writing Myself Back Into My Body and Into the World" - essay by Shayla Lawz
"Sympathy" poem by Paul Laurence Dumbar & "Caged Bird" poem by Maya Angelou
"Burial" - fiction by Nneoma Ike-Njoku
"Miracle" - fiction by Tope Folarian
Radicalizing + Decolonizing Feminism Talk with Dr. Joy James
"Who Will Greet You at Home" fiction by Lesley Nneka Amirah
music
gospel for a new century - yves tumor
songs to add to your playlists and playlists to enjoy!
haven't you heard - patrice rushen
dare - saul williams
self! - isaia huron rider - mereba
creator's playlists & listening instructions do you miss the waters? by angel no instructions, have fun! instead, an anecdote: it's spring, meaning a renewal, meaning extra jittery energy that needs to be expelled, meaning i go for runs. it was one of those weekend mornings where i felt restless. i was high off the feeling of speaking and sustaining a conversation with my grandma in igbo, and wanted to be enveloped in the warmth of that moment for a little bit longer, so i put on chaka khan’s sweet thing—a song that eases my heart—and went out into the warm morning. autoplay lead me to new and familiar songs, but one song, in particular, caught my ear: patrice rushen’s haven’t you heard. the opening cord jutted me into familiarity, and it didn’t occur to me until rushen belts her opening lines that it was not the gospel song that i was used to. that this version was not kirk franklin's looking for you but instead something different, something original and raw, which led me down a series of thoughts on the role of samples in the black tradition—how songs can be reconstructed into something new, how they transform. i don’t think i have the complete understanding or language or space to think through my thoughts here but these thoughts have been nagging at me. recently, i rediscovered, quite divinely, a conversation on sampling practices in black music and poetry by hanif abdurraqib and harmony holiday, a talk i remember wanting to attend but missing and spending the subsequent week searching for to no avail. i'm happy it found me when i needed it. listen here.
springgg
❀ by keza
apple music
spotify
youtube
spring i think is my favorite season because of how exciting it is to see and feel so much newness, color, and warmth. especially after such a long winter this spring has been so welcoming. this playlist makes me think of seasonally specific sensory memories and the overwhelming feeling of restlessness i get every time it starts to get warm & suny again. if you can, listen to this playlist in order & i strongly suggest listening while you're outdoors! have a zyrtec, look at some flowers, touch some grass & enjoy! apple music
spotify
youtube
what's going on (domestically + internationally)
Palestine For decades, the people of Palestine and their land have been targeted by settler colonial Israel. Israel has instigated and sustained violence towards Palestine through land theft, military occupation, settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and apartheid. We offer solidarity to the people of Palestine. Here, rootbound publicly claims their support and hopes for a free Palestine.
Fred Moten and Robin D.G. Kelley in Conversation, moderated by Rinaldo Walcott and Afua Cooper Moten and Kelley begin their conversation about Israel's violence against Palestine at the 42 minute mark, but we encourage you to watch the whole video if you have time.
What does Palestine Mean For Black America? - Discussion Recording of a live forum discussion exploring Black solidarity with Palestinians and holding space for global liberation efforts.
FREE PALESTINE! accounts + people to follow: Mohammed el Kurd, Palestinian writer + poet @m7mdkurd
@mohammedelkurd
Rafeef Ziadah, Palestinian writer + poet @RafeefZiadah
Noor Hindi, Palestinian writer + poet @MyNrhindi
Dream Defenders, community group @thedreamdefenders
Fayrouz Sharqawi, Palestinian writer + activist @FayrouzSharqawi
India India has been experiencing a severe increase in COVID-19 cases alongside a shortage of necessary resources & supplies. On top of this, many Western nations are refusing to take steps towards increased vaccine production and distribution. We offer solidarity to the people of India.
links to donate & learn
further readings
"Apologies to All the People in Lebanon" June Jordan
"Zenana" Noor Hindi
Collected Lebanon Poems June Jordan
"Why Is Your Grandmother's Name Jihad?" Noor Hindi
"Slow violence, Cold violence" Teju Cole
"Where the Black and Palestinian Queer Struggles Meet" Sa’ed Atshan, Darnell L. Moore
"Against Zionism" Jon Fish Hodgson
"Against Erasure" Noor Hindi
"Running Orders" Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
"Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying" Noor Hindi
"The Israeli Military Shot My Cousin— and the US Bears Part of the Blame" Mohammed El-Kurd
"Zionist Logic" Malcolm X
what we are up to
just getting back into drawing and creating more consistently and wanted to use my hands more, so i have been mostly drawing with oil pastels & colored pencils. for me, starting anything without a pencil sketch is usually hard. with these faces & pastels in general, i really enjoyed starting with big strokes or laying a lot of colors down before anything else. i love to see how these faces turn out and seeing similarities in each one. not sure if i will make more so they feel like more of a ~series~ but for now, it feels more approachable to just make them when i feel like it. shoutout to all the old pastels i held on to from high school art class
♡
keza lil spring faces
refrences newsletter cover Brianna Rose Brooks - Country Style
nook covers Desire: Ian Michael, Raised by Our Mamas Manifest: Ify Chiejina, I Head in Your Direction Poems for Haruko: Mickalene Thomas, Untitled Collage Recreation: Zanidile Tshabalala, Within Silence II Writing Myself Back Into My Body and Into the World: Cece Phillips, Figurative Burial: Onyis Martin, Variations and Repetitions II Sympathy: Barry Yusufu, Lady for Telephone Caged Bird: Barry Yusufu, The Beautiful Ones III Miracle: Harmonia Rosales, Annunciation of a Woman Who Will Greet You at Home: Margaret Burroughs, Mother and Child Radicalizing - Decolonizing Feminism: Chioma Ebinama, hugging party
music covers: keza playlist cover - untitled face by keza ruranga thank you so much for joining us! watch out for updates on our instagram account & for release dates for upcoming zines, newsletters & more. we would love to hear what you have been reading, watching, and listening to! feel free to submit your recommendations or your own art here!
follow us on IG! @r.ootbound
&
creators: illustrations by keza ruranga
angel (they/them)
keza (she/her)