Freedom Writing Workshop, San Antonio, TX – Amplifying Voice for the Comunidad
Hey this is joey, I haven’t written an article here in a while that wasn’t documenting a Bryan, TX event.
However I was recently back in San Antonio to visit family and it aligned with Craft Cultura’s Freedom Writing event facilitated by Marco Cervantes (aka MexStep) at the Basila Frocks Building on north Zarzamora. I heard about the event on Instagram through Marco being tagged and I shared it right away. As I watched the IG video I was trying to pinpoint where the space was and I quickly realized it was a new development on the westside of San Antonio. It was cool to pop up to a new spot on the Westside of SA and see a renovated space that was brewing up some positive energy.
As I walked through the parking lot I saw a coffee truck outside and that excited me, but more on that later. I found 502 N Zaramora which turned out to be Gallery Youngblood Art LLC, a local art gallery that is “Serving an underserved community, we’re passionate about connecting professionals, newcomers, and art enthusiasts with inspiring works, creative events, and a welcoming atmosphere.”
As I entered I quickly got acquainted with everyone, introduced myself to everyone, which I will note is a great way to meet people. It sounds obvious, but often in new places I shut down, probably due to my generalized anxiety disorder, so putting myself out there in new places and genuinely engaging really helps me get the temperature of space, and I was so glad I did. Everyone was so friendly, I met Victor who runs the gallery and he was so inviting and informative about the space, the event itself and how the Youngblood Gallery is forming its presence. I then met Misael Ramirez, the director of Craft Cultura, the organization hosting the event. I learned about how Craft Cultura was founded in the RGV region in south Texas and that over the last year they had moved to San Antonio and began fostering connections with like minded spaces and that this was their first community event in San Antonio.
And of course I said hello to Marco, my good friend and colleague who I have valued at so many levels. Marco to me is someone that walks the walk. He is someone living the theory and praxis not just in the classroom but in the community and vice versa. Through his music he exudes empowerment, his commitment to engagement has always been something I have admired. That all said I had never heard of him hosting a writing session, not that he hasn’t, just that I had not heard of it and so for me, I was very excited to be there.
Now some full disclosure. I am not a writer, well…. Not in the traditional sense, I was told by my dual credit english teacher in high school I wouldn’t make it in community college, when I was an undergrad at UT, I was sent to the undergraduate writing center, when I was a graduate student, I was sent to the undergraduate writing center, as a professor my scholarly article writing has been non existent (And yes I intentionally made that a run on…)
However I had others that advocated for me, saw beyond my traditional writing skills and encouraged me to keep going. These advocates understood me at another level.
My logic at the time of graduate school was that all of the hardest readings we discussed were not 5 paragraph essay formats, but ones that worked through issues in the theorists almost tangential manner, so that’s what I wrote! Yes, I was crazy to expect that people would be ok with this, as it was not academically earned!
So my relationship with writing is something of a mixed bag and was traditionally rarely done for fun until I started blogging and really found my own stride.
So going to a Freedom Writing event had weight to it in my mind, with Marco leading it, and having listened to every album he has come out with and really taking in his lyrics, I walked in very inspired to see how things would go down.
And go down they did, the leaders of the event really did a great job giving each participant/community member a voice and space to express themselves. College students, community artists/activists, writers showed up to participate, each introducing themselves and creating a TAZ (temporary autonomous zone) that let our creative energies as a group flow. After introductions, Marco shared some writing tips and then we were off to the land of writing for 40 minutes…
The thing is I had no idea what I would be writing, what form, nothing. I started with a pen and piece of paper, then quickly switched to a pen and pad, then realized my left handwriting was slow, messy and not very readable… I had my laptop with me, but I didn’t wanna be “that person,” clacking away. So instead I went old school, back to my automotive dissertation days, when I was 28 years old recording Toyota 2Jz dyno sessions at Boost Logic and sit right on the other side of the wall (and admittedly some metal between me and the car so if there was a failure I wouldn’t get taken out). I took my cellphone out and opened “notes” up and began thumbing away. Next thing I knew 30 minutes had passed and I had been thumbing away the whole time, fleshing out a work that was based around “existing.”
I got up, with my now 45 year old back crackling a bit and walked to stretch my legs out. I walked outside and found Hermes Coffee’s van popped up and got an awesome Americano. By the time I went back in, time was up and we all began sharing our works. I loved that people wrote from multiple perspectives, in multiple forms and from various lived realities, adding depth and nuance to everyone we had just met in ways that were personal, but also universally resonating. It was a vibrant moment for sure. As each person who shared their works, we really got to hear and listen, to reflect and be mindful of our own spaces. I know for me it gave me a lot to reflect on with my own privileges and experiences I have had over the years, both good and bad. For that moment, in that space, it was exactly what I had come in search of and the value of such experiences just can’t have a price put on them. I loved seeing people on their own journeys, coming together for this moment and each person walking away with their own experience, perspectives and value of the event.
I cannot thank everyone who helped put the event on enough. It inspired me so much that I plan to host a similar event in Bryan, TX in the coming months. Hopefully collaborating with Craft Cultura and some local groups to facilitate the voices of the community and build out people’s voices in a time when it is desperately needed.
So stay tuned and follow me on IG & Youtube for announcements soon.
Below you will find what I wrote during the session.
existence
by joey phd
Existing sounds implied
We often forget existing is often the prime of our resistance. My mentor Sandy Stone taught me this when we were discussing oppositional practice in undergrad. Sandy embodies the concept as a transgender theorist, facilitator and learner. Studying under Donna Harraway and going to school with Gloria Alzundua, her reflections and perspectives not only have shaped my mind, but expanded it, opened it and allowed me to exist in a way I didn’t know was a possibly as a “bad” k-12 student who struggled to exist in academia.
It was through what felt like riding the coat tales of so many before me that I have become who I am and hope others who have felt this way can see their earned existence and those of others.
In times when we struggle to exist, to be who we are, walk with our own gate, speak in our own voice, existing becomes a challenge. It becomes so much more than what we thought of it as, even when times were thought to be tough. It helps us reflect on those who have been fighting for us to exist, fought for us to exist and who will continue beyond our existence.
My goal in my existence is to help others. I fail at it a lot, but never give up. I am flawed and make mistakes, but my life is one that I know I must uphold for my own existence.
I know to speak up, walk with my gate, wear what I wear, advocate for those who may not feel they currently exist, but make no mistake we see you, we see them.
Resistance
What does it mean to resist? We often think of active resistance vs passive resistance. I just stated existence can be a form of resistance, so let’s explore the other two.
Active resistance –
For me active resistance has play a major role in my life. It has closed many traditional roles in my life.
A major time was in grad school when I decided I would not publish to be academically recognized, to buck the system and break the ivory tower. This may sound very first world to some, maybe it is.
Another major active resistance action I took was when one of my best students was shot 4 times, once through the eye and 3 shots in the back by university police. Cameron Redus, yes I say his name. I didn’t let any of my university admin manipulate me to go with the canned story, I actively said NO! This is not Christian or pertains to any form of the schools mission and shouldn’t be treated as such. I lost my job for it and also lost any chance at working in my hometown again. I have never been offered a job in SA again… (yes I have applied)
My third active form of resistance is currently in play where as an untenured professor I am unapologetic for who I am, the past I have and the things I teach and embody to give facilitative action for my fellow colleagues and students to feel heard and valued. Yes, at times my facilitation may look aggressive to my white allys. But having lost so many faculty of color and students of color, it has to be noted and reported for the record, even when it doesn’t align with an ally’s feelings vs their actions.
Passive Resistance
What’s the difference between existence and and passive resistance is that passive doesn’t mean you just exist, it has intentionality. It has effects on situations where even when you exist you may passively act to allow for things to happen you may not have embodied before.
Examples of this can take many forms. For me personally it is creating space for the “other,” the “queer,” those who we assume have not been heard, my passive resistance is letting their voices be heard over mine.
I do my best to exude this and fail often as I can get too excited and enthusiastic. These are the ultimate times I try my best to “shut up” and let others have a voice. To realize it is their feeling of empowerment, space and presence that will transform communities. Resistance needs more than just one.
Passive resistance for me is often also about compromise, realizing that while I will never fully align with others, I must realize the power in facilitating others ideas, the power in facilitating that for which is beyond your own comprehension in the moment.
Examples of this for me is how I have structured the lab at work, giving presence to all intentionally, letting everyone have a voice and intentionally not having my own personal research agenda.
This was taught to me by Sandy at the ACTLab where our motto was to “make stuff, take risks and be awesome” to go forth and be creative and align rhizomatically.
The power of distribution is something I definitely come to value.