Love relentlessly.
—Diana Butler Bass
Love relentlessly, she said,
and I want to slip these two words
into every cell in my body, not the sound
of the words, but the truth of them,
the vital, essential need for them,
until relentless love becomes
a cytoplasmic imperative,
the basic building block for every action.
Because anger makes a body clench.
Because fear invokes cowering, shrinking, shock.
I know the impulse to run, to turn fist, to hurt back.
I know, too, the warmth of cell-deep love—
how it spreads through the body like ocean wave,
how it doesn’t erase anger and fear,
rather seeds itself somehow inside it,
so even as I contract love bids me to open
wide as a leaf that unfurls in spring
until fear is not all I feel.
Love relentlessly.
Even saying the words aloud invites
both softness and ferocity into the chest,
makes the heart throb with simultaneous
urgency and willingness. A radical pulsing
of love, pounding love, thumping love,
a rebellion of generous love,
tenacious love, a love so foundational
every step of what’s next begins
and continues as an uprising,
upwelling, ongoing, infusion
of love, tide of love, honest love.
— Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
You can learn more about Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer and read more of her poetry here.
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Additionally, February is Black History Month, and this is an excellent time to celebrate and learn from Black disability activists and advocates who have shaped our communities, nation, and world.
“Claudia Gordon is the first Deaf Black woman lawyer in the United States. She is a trailblazer, advocate, and leader dedicated to assisting those with disabilities and other marginalized communities. She is the former Senior Policy Advisor for the department of Homeland Security, former vice president for the National Black Deaf advocates, and former White House Public Engagement Advisor. In this last role, she was President Obama’s key advisor on issues relating to people with disabilities. She continues her advocacy in the US Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.”
You can learn more here:
https://disabilityrightsflorida.org/blog/entry/impactful_black_disability_advocates_and_advocates?fbclid=IwY2xjawIY5IpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHeE0HNT7m5-V0hMihgkjk7mJf84XKyhy0LE05JRZ4lZi-vDNvgjj6OOBjw_aem_CjIF1A50pd9Cy2glsTYlCw
Smuggling Grace 