RADICAL IMAGINATION

“This is really an awesome event… One of the things that resonates for me is how important it is for Black females in particular to own their power. We have so much power and don't realize that we have it and how to use it. Whether spoken, whether actions, how we move people with our power, and how simply walking in the room and showing up, whether it's a head turn or a smile or a nod, is utilizing power and sending that power, getting a response that we may not be aware we just created because of our power… I think it's important to recognize that we have it and decide how we choose to use it. It is that simple.” - Nicole Norfles

BlackFemaleProject Boardmember, Ché Abram, facilitated a powerful offering for our network this past fall: Radical Imagination, a guided discussion focused on the impact that healing of self and others can have when we expand our belief of what’s possible. As a longtime supporter and contributor to our work, Ché has an intimate understanding of our audience that allowed her to cultivate an offering that attracted a lot of interest and left attendees inspired. 

After sharing her own perspectives on the concept of radical imagination, Ché engaged the group in defining the term on their own. Some of the definitions that participants provided included:

• Living a life that allows you to be thriving and liberated, free of doubt and limitation

• Freeing from societal boundaries and self limitations so dreaming of what's possible can be manifested

• The freedom and act of envisioning beyond what we see now

• Healthy and joyful living

• To be able to be in a space of pursuing that which is the truth and honest in my life in a world full of distortions and distractions

After beginning to tap into the group’s ideas about the event’s focal topic, Ché brought in another tool to activate their collective imagination. She played an excerpt from the Radical Imagination podcast featuring host Angela Glover Blackwell in conversation with Prentis Hemphill. In the excerpt, Hemphill spoke to the ways that healing trauma supports us in reclaiming and embodying our power. Multiple women in attendance found Hemphill’s commentary resonant and relatable. One attendee shared a particularly poignant reflection:

“I'm learning how to have a positive relationship with power because as an adult adoptee, in many cases in my life, power was something that people used over me in order to manipulate me to do things and to be a certain way… I kind of shied away from any type of leadership or power experience because I felt like in many cases, power has been abused… It's almost as if it was a bad thing to me, but I'm in the process of unlearning that and realizing that because of the fact that I do have this humility to want to shy away from it because I have this idea that it should be used to uplift versus to tear down. Maybe that's even more of a reason why someone like me should be in positions of power because I don't want to do the things that I've seen patterned throughout the years.”

And while everyone who spoke throughout the course of the event acknowledged the importance and value of tapping into radical imagination, multiple comments underscored the ways in which our culture works against our ability to disconnect from the day-to-day enough to regularly imagine. When asked how she holds herself accountable to her own radical imagination, Ché shared a few practices that support her:

• A dream book -- a sketchbook for dreams

• Not imposing time limits on her time to imagine

• Consistently referring back to things like wish lists and affirmations

A few other practices elevated by attendees: 

• Vision boards and goals lists

• Goals and celebrations of goal milestones

• Rest

“In a culture focused on hyper productivity, it can feel uncomfortable to sit and do nothing and let silence wash over you. Doing nothing is a radical part of your lifelong rest practice. To be intentional about embodying rest, disrupt systems of oppression, we must practice rest. We must commit to it as a protest. We must go slow. Go stare at the sky. Go stare at your heart.” Tricia Hersey.

In closing, Ché reminded the group of the ways that our own individual acts can create a ripple effect around us. “Every time you do something, you are creating a space that the rest of us can pick up that energy and go with that as well.” Whether or not you attended the event, we hope these reflections encourage you to prioritize your own rest and healing; recover your power; and be a model of commitment to radical imagination.”