“This is not a film. This is a ritual. This is Black queer alchemy.”
-Liz Kennedy
brontë velez and Liz Kennedy of Oakland-based collective, Lead To Life, presented their ritual “between starshine and clay.” Afterwards, they discuss the collective’s healing work. Dionne Smith and Denise Friday Hall, two mothers who lost their sons to police violence, join Lead To Life to share about their collaboration as a way of healing in the wake of this violence. brontë and Liz describe how their work straddles the gap between racial justice movement and environmental justice movement by returning the metals from guns back to the earth, where the material once came from. They also pose Lead To Life’s “ritual practice” as an antidote to the rituals of white supremacy, and as a way to decolonize and reclaim black traditions.
ASL interpretation and speech-to-text provided. This event was recorded as part of Bloom on May 27, 2021.
For Spanish language video, click here.
Questions:
- What is the importance of a ritual practice?
- How can our connection with the earth heal us from the damage caused by white supremacy and violence?
Resources:
- Lead To Life
- Instagram: @lead2life
- Twitter: @LeadtoLife