The heart contributes to the transformation of the world.
Wage Love
The term “Wage Love” was introduced to our communities by Detroit’s beloved sister Charity Hicks. We honor her memory and spirit.
The Wage Love Poem at AMC2015
The Opening ceremony for the Allied Media Conference offered the stage for sharing. (Reposting of content from AMC2015)
The opening ceremony featured a sonic performance art piece by Diné artist, Ryan Dennison, live video projection by VJ Calixta and sounds by DJ Izla. Detroit poet, mother, and activist, Tawana Petty, welcomed people to Detroit and then representatives of all 30 AMC Tracks, Practice Spaces, and Network gatherings performed a collective poem around the theme of “waging love,” as a tribute to the late Detroit activist, Charity Hicks. Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors gave the keynote speech, which grew into an epic on-stage dance party and celebration of Black life. Brinae Ali and Destination Forever, a Flint, Michigan based dance crew, closed out the night with an electric, black-lit tap performance. This brilliant array of media, art, and technology offered a vision of the world we’re working towards, together.
Full length version of Opening Ceremony by Philly CAM
THE WAGE LOVE POEM
by coordinators of AMC2015 tracks, practice spaces, and network gatherings
We Wage Love For…
those we love still who have left their body; spirits; charity; sheddy; victor; shelley; simba; all the folks killed by the state
for the underprivileged—for the estranged, and the unrequited
for all the femmes hurt and killed by patriarchal and state violence. for all the baby femmes who are smart, creative, and full of life
all LGBTQTS youth, especially Indigenous, Black and youth of color, who are on the front lines of resistance to the police and state violence every day
for youth who are targeted by oppression, shame, and injustice, anyone who is pushed aside, silenced, and forgotten
for those who have created the worlds for the young to destroy the vision of struggling in vain
for our folks who couldn’t go to school and shouldn’t have to because we share what we know
for those whose stories are being rearranged and legacies erased; for Detroit, New Orleans, Dallas, Miami, DC, Seattle and beyond
for the women and girls not welcome on hip hop stages; We wage love on Hip Hop because hate is too heavy a burden to bear
for those whose bodies are constantly at war. May we heal and ever be resilient. May we make real peace with our bodies
for all black lives across the entire globe
for all of our children. for them to know a Detroit with access to water, land, food & justice. for them to know, together, we are the greatest power
for future generations, honoring & AMPlifying the voices, histories & songs of our ancestors & those among us who are too often silenced
for ancestors buried in our genes; future generations skeptically hopeful; our neighbors who speak a different language; but whose bodies break just the same
for those that need us; for the lucid dreamers and movement weavers; for the revolutionaries past, future, and in between us
for the dreamers, thinkers, and tinkerers who understand that learning, sharing, and preserving community knowledge are radical acts
for a world in which all our stories are heard, appreciated, celebrated and combined to design the place where our communities breathe, live, and love
for a world where we share our technology with strangers
for a world where communication is a human right
for ourselves, so that we love more of who we are; for each other, to find our power, uplift our power, and share our power; for a new system of collective healing
for social justice movements that are built upon all of our complicated ass experiences
for transformation that goes beyond transaction and resource sharing that transcends fundraising: all in the name of justice, liberation and healing
for the collective liberation and growth of all communities across generations
for the soul and the spirit, for other bodies and minds we are connected to; for the Earth and the Sun, which have always loved us
for our communities survival, sustainability, and our existence in the places we call home, and for those that come before us and after us
for ever & ever
We Wage Love By…
listening deeply, taking good care of each other and moving with deep gratitude and transformative joy
by listening, deeply, to one another’s stories of resistance & resilience. by not being afraid of the silence
by honoring and centering femmes in the face of erasure. by encouraging creativity and self-expression in femme spirits
by empowering young LGBT leaders of today – making for a better World tomorrow
by centering parents, kids, caregivers, and families of all kinds as we work to create a nonviolent world
by amplifying the voices of the unheard, creating spaces to tell our stories, and exploring the ways that sound, music, and media intersect with community, creativity and identity-formation
by loving ourselves unconditionally throughout the mind and body
by confronting what’s difficult within our communities and within ourselves
by uniting our strengths, stories, and communities to advance racial and economic equity through media rights, access, and fair representation
by sharing ‘Know Your Rights’ information and working with our communities in creating safety strategies that keep us out of prisons and state custody
by healing, which is a revolutionary act; by dismantling and redesigning the systems that teach us to hurt each other and hate ourselves from the inside out
by dreaming awake. building the future and transforming states. tearing down prisons and reclaiming lakes
by grounding imagination as a tool for strategic visionary transformation and connecting translocal organizing brilliance
by loving and celebrating the abundance and the inherent beauty in our bodies with validation, resistance, and liberation
by investing in our collective liberation and sustainability, sharing resources, caring for one another, and dismantling capitalism
by creating the world that fosters the strong backs of the love wagers
by recognizing imbalance as an invitation to heal; realizing healing is our birthright; healing together or not healing at all
by planting seeds in gardens that sprout communities, grow relationships and harvest sovereignty
We Wage Love With…
broadcast media tools, sharing authentic community expressions
with radical research that honors the systems of knowledge that exist already in ourselves and our communities
with rituals; loving through loss; holding hard & finding joy; unlearning processes that teach us not to heal; living through the hard/heart
We Wage Love When We….
dismantle the ivory tower and transform our relationship to the academy
take control of technology from corporations & governments and put that control in the hands of our neighbors & communities
respond to the needs of the people, helping access and create knowledge that empowers communities
when we find new ways for our movements to connect and grow together
when we destroy doubt and aim love from within so it radiates out
when we rise up like dandelions
Videos by Prince Ea: translation & commentary
Do you believe that we will ever have an outer revolution…a sustainable shift into oneness, without an inner revolution?
The question is how do we have an inner (world changing) r(e)volution that extends outward into all of society?
How do we fix Ferguson is the question? We fix Ferguson in the same way we fix Afghanistan, Gaza, Palestine, Chicago and that is to stop. We have to stop and be open to the possibility that we have been brainwashed within every single level of our lives, brainwashed with conditioned thoughts(beliefs), thoughts we have been killed over, died over, gotten angry over, sad and depressed over. We are so loyal to these thoughts, but we have to question them because they were created by the culture that we were born in. This culture taught us that race was real. It taught us that war and violence creates peace. It taught us that love is weakness and we believed it. We ate it up. Open any history book and you will notice a trend in generation after generation, the same story, over and over again. We have tried everything from politics to protests to rallies to riots. None of it works. These things create short term results, not lasting solutions.
Voicing ourselves through protests and demonstrations has made progress…the key messages are killed and died for as a means of progress. Look at how long it has taken and at what cost…and we still as a collective hold these separated thoughts/beliefs. Although we indeed honor those who have lead the way with social injustice progress, it is our responsibility to expand consciously, just as we would hope all those who come after us will continue the evolutionary process at the highest conscious level. After all this time we are still killing each other. How do we move into something new, that can offer a united humanity, from a different level of consciousness?
Just because our parents or grandparents believed something does not mean we have to continue that cycle. This is our time, our town right now. Millions have come before us and millions will come after us. We have a real chance right now to make a real difference or we can die doing the same thing of what we have been doing and expecting different results.
To me it is…what have we not done?
Everybody is worried about change this and change that…what is on the outside. We have forgotten a lot that which is looking outside, which is changing ourselves.
Inner transformation will lead to outer ransformation. Let us revolutionize Gandhi’s quote: “Be the change we want to see in the world.” The first and perhaps the most direct way of doing this is asking ourselves…How do we contribute to the very behavior of mass culture separation in which we seek to change?
Who are you is the question? Who are you at the deepest sense?
I am not talking about your race, ethnicity, heritage, religion, ancestry. I am not even talking about your experience or your memories. I am talking about who are you in the deepest sense.
Because there will never be external peace if there is not internal peace.
Once you (we) figure that out I promise you the entire world will transform, will change and as more and more people find themselves
(Living their true identity and expanding this resonant field of Being Peace) MANKIND has the opportunity to transform into KINDMAN.
Does this sound like the next evolutionary movement and perhaps the ONLY means for creating peace on earth…the Beloved Community…we need to Be it and Live it…and support each other in the transformational process of Growing the Soul.
Jesus once said, “forgive them for they know not what they do.” Think about that, they know not what they do because they know not who they are.
A lot of people will not understand the words that I am saying. They just won’t hear it. Some people will find this to be negative. But for the few of you who are watching this I urge you to try and find out who you are…who you are inside your body. What have you got to loose?
Watch for Translation & Commentary
This is the next video by Prince Ea to be discussed.