Saturday's Substack
My response to existential dread and state sponsored power + Day 3 The Power of Presence
Dear Substack Community: Today is Saturday. The day I sit down to write in real-time and then hit publish. I don’t edit Saturday’s post much. I just sit down and write. Thank you for being here with me at Our Collective Becoming. There have been more of you join as the days go by, and I’m glad you are here!
We are in the season of Lent, which is part of the Christian Tradition that focusses on the immediate days preceding Holy Week and Easter. Many traditions focus on giving up something for Lent, like social media, meat, chocolate, or something that might be a vice. This Lent, I’m focussing on unraveling from Empire by thinking through the antidote of White Christian Supremacy, which is our current cultural makeup. I chose the word Power and the Greek word kenosis to use as I unravel from Empire and White Christian Supremacy.
Each day during Lent, I am sending a a reflection on power and unlearning toxic forms of power through a kenotic lens, which refers to self-emptying. Today is Day 3.
Day 3: The Power of Presence
Jesus did not change the world through grand displays of force. He changed it by showing up—at wells, at tables, on the margins. His presence was an act of power. What would it mean for us to show up for others, not to fix them but simply to be with them?
Saturday’s Substack
I know the world is on fire. I write about it and share my colleagues posts. I know that what is happening is real, and I want to invite us into deeper folds of becoming. God gave my partner and me a fairy God mother. She is dispassionately passionate. She is an invisible force and I am working to channel her in everything I do, including my writing.
I’m happy to share that Our Collective Becoming is read in all 50 states and 92 countries! We are starting something here about raising our awareness of our connectedness or our separateness. How do we become the healing of the wounds?
This week has been rough in many ways. On Wednesday, I learned of two queer leaders and artists who were murdered in Buffalo, NY. In their home!
There is a campaign to give financially to help set up a memorial for these artists. You can find that here. The Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project has set up a fundraiser that will go directly to them to support a history project for Mickey and Jordan. Mickey served on the board of the Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project and was a big part of their programming.
In the face of queer and trans erasure, I want to bring our attention to counter publics. How might queer counter publics guide us right now?
A counterpublic is a term from critical theory and political philosophy that refers to a public or space where marginalized groups create their own discourses, identities, and modes of resistance in response to dominant publics. The concept was developed by theorists like Nancy Fraser, who critiqued Jürgen Habermas’ idea of a single, universal public sphere.
Counter publics are emerging right now. Third Spaces are emerging right now. How do we nurture these counter publics and Third Spaces?
I’ve been thinking about how to be right now and what to do. In many respects, the paralysis that sets in with how overwhelming things are has invited me to consider how much presence I have in my life and what are the contours of spaciousness in my life.
When you feel pressed in on all sides, one wonders how safe is it, really! I know I am asking that question and we are having the conversation in community in real time. I talk with students on the regular who are suffering and who are food insecure. Living in one of the poorest counties in New York, I am learning to see with new eyes.
The work is never easy; and, it is always emerging. The questions I’m sitting with are: what does repair work look like in an accelerated age of toxic positivity and capitalism on hyper drive? And, how do we become the healing of the wounds?
I tend to bring more questions than answers; it was how I was trained. Learning to navigate in the waters in which I am swimming takes courage but also wisdom. We live in a culture of hubris and the antidote to hubris is humility and wisdom. It’s why I’m preaching on that this weekend!
To the queers and Trans folx who are reading, take care of yourself and each other. The world doesn’t deserve your beauty or grace, and I’m sorry people are mistreating our community. Know that you are held with a fierce tenderness by so many!
Gratitude to those folks who are holding me in my work and the work that is emerging!
Paz, —Roberto Che Espinoza+
When it doesn't allow itself to get coopted by Empire I think Jesus intends the Church to be a counter-public. I have been wondering what that means when our Empire is Modernity.