action 34: Knowledge: Glimmer. Shift. Contemplation. A change in position. Awaken.
February 13th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Action 34: Knowledge: Glimmer. Shift. Contemplation. A change in position. Awaken.
Action by: Sheree Ross
Location: Austin, TX
action 33: The love for the drums and the call of the jungle music
February 13th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Action 33: The love for the drums and the call of the jungle music
Action by: Adela Vazquez, Community Activist, Proud Afro-Cuban, Transgender Woman
Location: San Francisco, CA
action 32: The Knowing
February 2nd, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Action 32: The Knowing
Action by: Venecia Rickenbacker
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
action 31: Remembering that I can
February 2nd, 2010 § Leave a Comment
action 32: breathe in, breathe out
January 25th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Life begins for me each day filled with
blessings of God.
Breathe in Breathe out, Breathe in breathe out,
Breathe in Breathe out, breathe in breathe out.
Action 32: breathe in, breathe out
Action by: Rosie Gordon-Wallace
Location: Miami, FL
action 29: put on slippers
November 24th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Putting on my slippers in the morning is an essential gesture for me. It is the first thing I do in the morning. I do so because I grew up with my grandmother and she insisted that we wore our slippers in the house from the moment we woke up to the moment we went to sleep. As children, she told us we would be sick if we didn’t wear slippers. As teenagers, she would warn us that if we didn’t wear our slippers our period would be painful. She drilled into us that we cannot take health for granted — health is the reward of the thousand and one precautions we take every day, beginning with never ever walking barefoot indoors or, god forbid, outdoors.
Action 29: Put on Slippers
Action by: Rose M. Rejouis
Location: Brooklyn, NY
action 28: Speak Your Truth Outloud
November 10th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: Speak Your Truth Outloud
Action by: Denise Valentine
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Image of Denise Valentine, Storyteller at Philadelphia Museum of Art, 8/07
Photo credit: markgarvinphoto.com
action 27: Kiss My, Never Mind, Onwards!
November 9th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 27: Kiss My, Never Mind, Onwards!
Action by: Carole Metellus
Location: Austin, TX
action 26: breathe Gratitude into your Heart/deeply…..
November 9th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 26: breathe Gratitude into your Heart/deeply…..
Action by: Sharon Bridgforth
Location: New York City
action 25: black girl belly laugh
November 9th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: black girl belly laugh
Action by: Naomi Jackson
Location: Brooklyn, NY
action 24: letting go
November 5th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: Letting Go
Action by: Placida McDonald
Location: Carrollton, Texas
action 23: No……
November 5th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: No…….
Action by: Senalka McDonald
Location: Austin, Texas
action 22: be super
November 5th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: Be Super
Action by: Kessa Dryburgh and Alana Dryburgh
Location: Plano, Texas
My sister (Martinella Dryburgh) explained it as: “They said that a powerful superhero uses his or her power to save people, like when they’re on a roof waiting to get on a helicopter and they fall off then the superhero flies down and saves them all. Also, you have to be nice, and act strong and brave to be a superhero. Overall, they really just liked the idea of being a super-powerful superhero.”
action 21: recognizing myself in reflection of the work of others in a public space
November 5th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: recognizing myself in reflection of the work of others in a public space
Action by: Kasalina Maliamu Nabakooza
Location: New York City
action 20: the call
November 5th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
As a student as well as a teacher the gesture of raising my hand holds an enormous amount of personal power. It an action full of agency, immediacy and progress. The action as I imagine it is much like the outstretch of one’s hand to heaven, stretched to the limit, digits erect palm open and receptive. It is an urgent, fervent beckoning for attention, for recognition, for answers.
Action: The Call
Action by: S. Laraia Dean
Location: South Florida
action 19: dance and claim space
November 5th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: Dance and Claim Space
Action by: Jessica Solomon
Location: Washington, DC
This picture is of a huddle moments before a community dance performance by 15 young black women in Washington D.C. (c) Jessica Solomon, July 2009.
action 18: loving the people with all of my might
November 5th, 2009 § 3 Comments
Action: Loving The People With All of My Might
Action by: Terry Howcott
Location: Detroit, Michigan
(Textile from Ijebu Ode Yoruba region, Nigeria 20th century provided by MBAD African Bead Museum and Photo by Ifoma at Ifomas Canvas).
action 17: stillness
October 30th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
action 16: contemplate
October 18th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action: Contemplate
Action by: Amanda Johnston
Location: Round Rock, TX
action 15: Que? What? No entendi? Can you tell me again? What?
October 15th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 15: Que? What? No entendi? Can you tell me again? What?
Action by: Ana-Maurine Lara
Location: New Haven, CT
action 14: self love
October 15th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Sit or stand in front of a mirror.
Begin slowly, very slowly, to touch your face: your nose, your eyes, your mouth, your hair…without turning your gaze from the mirror, begin to repeat the phrase, “I love you.”
Take time to breathe. Stay with yourself. Take as long as you need on each part before you move on to another.
I love you. I love you. I love you. Until your heart breaks. Until you know, in this moment, you are enough.
Action 14: Self Love
Action by: Helga Davis
Location: Harlem, NY
action 13: strut
October 14th, 2009 § 1 Comment
Action 13: Strut
Action by: Tisa Bryant
Location: Los Angeles, CA
action 12: stretch
October 13th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 12: Stretch
Action by: Teri Richardson
Location: Brooklyn, NY
action 11: opening gesture
October 13th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
each morning, I open
starting from one place
prone under covers
or moving through
rooms, my right hand,
an open fist, palm
out or up, a flower
i pull towards me
to enter the world
the studio, a window,
a drawer for socks,
the refrigerator
for freezer ice
my feet planted
my mouth set and
pull, sometimes turn,
elbow to breast, walk
Action 11: Opening Gesture
Action by: Gabrielle Civil
Location: Mexico, DF/ Minneapolis, MN
action 10: say to yourself…
October 13th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 10: Say to Yourself…
Action by: Rosamond S. King
Location: Brooklyn, NY
action 9: step into the unknown
October 4th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
action 8:The Start of Something Beautiful
September 29th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
action 7: draw/write dates of periods collected over 29 years
September 24th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
i drew a horizontal line of dates at eye level in graphite on the walls. the dates are 29 years of the first and last day of my period. when i drew it on paper it was 24 yards. when i drew it on a gallery wall it was 49 yards. in essence the action is writing. writing is the gesture that i’d choose as a gesture of personal power.
Action 7: draw/write dates of periods collected over 29 years
Action by: Annette Lawrence
Location: Denton, Texas
action 6: Evilo painting power process
September 24th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
I play with paint according to the subtleties of the event, for example, Jazz music, sometimes grasping the rythms, beats, melodies; sometimes sketching the figures or portraits. Above all, there is between the musicians and the crowd a growing sensation which flows through from the roots of the earth towards the fingers of my toes and my hands before bursting out on the support. The magic of it is that it’s a temporal and rythmic process which becomes more and more instinctive.
Action 6: Evilo painting power process
Action by: Olive/Evilo
Location: France and Mauritius
action 5: bicep curls
September 22nd, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 5: Bicep Curls
Action by: Emily Kennedy
Location: Austin, TX
Up and down
Up and down
Up and down
I lift my arms
From my elbow to my finger tips
Clutching the rounded weights
Ten pounds, 12, 24, 36
And every rep is harder
upper body strength
action 4: divining finger
September 22nd, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 4: Divining Finger
Action by: Eseohe Arhebamen / Edoheart
Location: Edo State, Nigeria and Brooklyn, New York
action 3: root index knuckle
September 19th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
the action that comes to mind is the index knuckle rooting that we’re taught to pay attention to in building the foundation of most of our poses. it’s quite simple, actually, rooting the pad of the index finger either into the ground (in downward dog, plank, caturanga, cobra, handstand, lalalalala) or into its opposite knuckle pad (in anjali mudra). but goodness- it’s so hard. the natural tendency is for the pad to rise and remembering to root it is not just a physical practice, but an emotional one too– a careful, detailed, attention-paying to how i place myself in the current of my life. such a little thing. such big meaning.
Action 3: root index knuckle
Action by: Vanessa Agard-Jones
Location: New York, New York
action 2: materialize breath by blowing onto mirror
September 15th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Action 2: Materialize breath by blowing
Action by: Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
Location: Houston, Texas
action 1: hold breath under water
September 15th, 2009 § 1 Comment
Action 1: hold breath under water
Action by: Wura-Natasha Ogunji
Location: Austin, Texas
