Cover Image of “The Signs in Ourselves: Exploring Queer Muslim Courage”, written and compiled by Liy Yusof, with art and design by Dhiyanah Hassan. Cover image shows a rainbow with clouds on either end, with …
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From October – December 2020, CSBR and RESURJ collaborated to host the Healing Circles, a 5-part workshop series to deepen solidarity, connection and care. As networks, we hoped to create a space for feminists that centred the politics of pleasure, wellbeing and resilience, while collaboratively addressing the deep impacts of personal, systemic and intergenerational traumas that as activists we face daily in our movement building. It felt especially timely to hold these gentle spaces, as we passed the first half-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eighteen of us participated in the virtual spaces, connecting from all across the globe. We joined together from Brazil, Chile, Canada, Egypt, France, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the UK. Throughout the Healing Circles, we explored varied body-based, spiritual and communication practices. This supported us to articulate what healing meant to each of us, within the context of our daily lives, our mother tongues, our gendered experiences, and the socio-political landscapes we found ourselves within. We journeyed together through a mix of casual conversation, creative expression, practices of non-violent communication. We were led through experiences of somatic exploration, authentic dance, and shamanic journeying by healers & activists embedded within feminist movements.
Our shared experiences and reflections affirmed the ways healing and transformation emerge from an attention to our bodies & spirits. They also affirmed the expansive pathways that arise from decolonizing the mainstream, capitalist & individual takes on self-care & wellness which increasingly dominate public discourse. We left with a consensus on the strength & necessity of work that supports collective care and resiliency as an integral part of movement-building.
The Healing Circles were co-facilitated by Marisa Viana and Rima Athar, along with Aizat Shakieva, Hilal Demir, Niza Solari Oyarzo. We’re glad to share records of the conversation highlights here, documented by Jamila Abbas and illustrated by Sonaksha Iyengar (www.sonaksha.com). Email us with thoughts, and please share widely with attribution. We hope it inspires similar spaces wherever you are.
Opening Circle: Connections, Possibilities & Joy
Closing Circle: Connecting Mind, Body & Voice
Read the full statement below, and download the PDF to share here:
CSBR_SolidarityStatement_FreedomofAssembyLGBTIQTurkey2021Download
4 February 2021
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