CommXnmXnts Expansions

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CommXndmXnt: Thy work shall take up the entirety of space without thy work impeding and overwhelming the space of others

In first molding a space for Black WomXn, I must first incorporate this into my own life and work. My work shall take up as most space as possible that is allocated to me while also respecting other artists and their work. In coexisting with varying experiences and stories being told, as I demand to carve out a space for Black WomXn, I shall also respect other artists' work.

CommXndmXnt: Thy shall not input traumatizing imagery

In acknowledging that pain and joy are intertwined with one another in the Black experience, pain is often exploited for a profit, with joy masked for its former. More specifically, the trauma and pain inflicted on Black WomXn on-screen are horrendous to us. It becomes a spectator view for those who are outside of Black WomXnhood. The trauma and pain when being depicted for other subjects, there is a proud conservatism and privacy. To allude to the pain but respect it for the subject. Shield the audience from being pained and respecting the privacy again for the subject, which is usually a non-Black WomXn. For Black WomXn's pain to be communicated and gain empathy, every lash in an enslaved movie must have the blood splashed across the camera lens. In 12 Years a Slave, the night engulfs and hugs the master as he rapes his captive. The moonlight shines down on the horrendous and decrypting and dehumanizing act. The silence and echoes of the crickets add to the heart-wrenching show and violation. This pain and rape scene is set up as a show so audience members can be captured by the moment, hypnotized by it, and not tear a single eye away from the screen.

For our pain to be communicated, we must be demeaned and dehumanized, stripped of identity and emotion. This leads to the desensitization of Black WomXn's pain, adding to the mistreatment suffered by doctors that underestimate our pain and leads to our death. Black WomXn's bodies are not respected. We are treated as disposable waste that reaccumulates. Showing Black WomXn's pain and trauma with more gore will not cause any action. Only temporary empathy that is dismissed from the mind once the movie or tv show ends.

CommXndmXnt: Thy shall show thyself

Identifying as a Black WomXn, this work is representing a part of me. As I show myself more in my work, this can be a restorative and therapeutic tool in unlearning biases and conditioning and being able to frolic mentally and physically freely in an Afrofuturistic world.

CommXndmXnt: Thy shall collaborate with other Black WomXn

Collaborating with other Black WomXn ensures to the multifaceted experiences of Black WomXn are included. No narrative is the same, yet all narratives encompass the being of a Black WomXn. Collaborating with other Black WomXn ensures that money and opportunity circulate within the Black community. As I rise, others must as well.

CommXndmXnt: Thy shall be a safe space for Black WomXn and Black folX

Self-explanatory. Period.

CommXndmXnt: Thy shall make each scene in coordination with archival footage

The archival footage serves to document at the earliest possible time that Black WomXn were molding and currently creating with the Afrofuture in mind, consciously and subconsciously. In drawing parallels of Black history, the Afrofuture and the present archival footage serve the purpose of grounding and acknowledging our Ancestors fought and worked with the Afrofuture in mind, regardless of if the term was coined then or not.

CommXndmXnt: Thy work shall not be linear

Time is a social and artificial construct. We are operating on CPT. Subjectivity in time is in correlation with production and commerce. Production and commerce that has led to the exploitation of Black bodies. Time is limiting.

Going against time is a radical act and a decisive act in choosing the power of rest. Rest is revolutionary. To rest should not center around the business hours of our exploiter. Rest needs to be center around the needs of the body. We suppress our body's needs to keep up with forced capitalism that highlights production and commerce over mental, emotional, and physical health. Rest is revolutionary of the Afrofuture.

CommXndmXnt: Thy work shall not fall into White Validation Syndrome

Our pain, art, value, and trauma should not be recognized and validated by white people to be considered accurate. The need to be identified and acknowledged by those outside our community will ultimately be our downfall. Insisting to be accepted by white culture will only compromise our own sanity and quality of work.

The mental and cultural relocation has caused a need for belonging for some within our network. Seeking white validation will only result in more protracted suffering and suppression, for we have to suppress ourselves to be deemed as of value. Leave the shackles of this thinking behind.

We add to our oppression seeking that we are acknowledged and integrated by the dominant culture. Black WomXn's bodies will continually be satirized and mocked with or without white validation. We sacrifice ourselves to be approved by others who have no relation or idea of Blackness.

CommXndmXnt: Thy shall use AAVE without explanation

My language. I will use it as I will. I will not be shamed for code-switching.

CommXndmXnt: Thy shall honor the Ancestors

We are here because our Ancestors fought and survive to get to this point. Saying “I am not my Ancestors” is disrespectful and disregards the work and fight our Ancestors lived and died for. They lived and died for us. We will not disrespect them.