Nudism: Black folks don’t do that, but I do…

Imagine...It’s a Saturday December morning I’m headed to LaGuardia to catch my flight and I miss it, the consequences of not getting enough sleep. I wait for the next flight to Maine.  Finally, I arrive and a car service comes to take me to a cozy B&B where I am going to have my first nudist experience.  It’s about a 40 minute drive from the airport and the driver, a nice man from Somalia, pulls into the drive way and out comes my beautiful friend Jasmine (yes, we have the same name) and Richard, just as naked as they day they were born.

 The driver then says, “Oh my God, is that real!” 

I laugh hysterically, walk into the house to meet a welcoming community of 7 nudists majority queer women of color and one man, diverse body types, shapes and colors, sitting at the kitchen table preparing our dinner.  That was my welcome into Naturism a non-sexual cultural, social and political space advocating and defending social nudity in private and public.

As a woman who is an outspoken sex positive activist, this experience was appealing to me in many ways.  First, it was non-sexual.  When I’m nude in the company of other’s my mind immediately goes to sex and having it repeatedly until we decide to put clothes on.  This time it was different, my mind and spirit was in a space of needing to be supported and nurtured in a way that brought me closer to being more honest with myself and my body.  When you’re naked you have absolutely nothing to hide and neither do the people you are nude in community with.  It’s an honest and safe community space and for me, deeply spiritual.

My experience in Maine was introduced to me by my goddess sister Jasmine Burems and supported by my now good friend Richard who has been in the Naturist community for over 30 years and found that it was mainly white folks who had the time, resources or access to these opportunities.  Understanding this, he has been providing opportunities in New York City and beyond to those like myself who otherwise would not have the entry point or access.  Given the negative images of women and women of color in particular with our bodies and sexuality this is a unique opportunity to overcome and heal in a space that is loving and supportive. 

 This particular trip was in Maine in December, we had the extremes of the hot and cold.  The B & B had amazing grounds that were secluded where we took nature walks wearing only boots, hats, gloves, scarves and nothing else.  There was also a dry hot sauna, where we warmed up, a hot tub and a warm pool to manage our body temperatures between the hot and cold.  Did I catch “a death of the pneumonia” no I completely detoxed and purified my body in this space.  I meditated in the sauna, used avocado masks and sea salt and grapeseed oil scrubs.  I felt amazing!

This experience was more than about how I felt, I received some Freewrite Expressions from the amazing women I shared in this experience with…

“Prior to arriving in Maine, I was looking forward to the quiet calmness that I knew would envelop me in the woods.  This trip is always an incredible opportunity for me to meet remarkable women and face them unguarded, raw and stripped down both literally and emotionally.  Upon leaving I am warmed with freshly planted seeds of inspiration.  I look around women surrounding me, grumpy about being forced back into our clothes and our everyday reality, but connected by our humbling and compassionate weekend together.” ---Janet

“This weekend was amazing.  I came here nervous not knowing what to expect.  However, all of that went away the moment we all came together.  Everyone was open, the conversations were amazing, and the trip was very relaxing.  After the trip, now I’m really happy to have met these women and network.  I hope to keep in touch with everyone.” ---Tanesha

“When Jasmine (Burems) first described this experience she had worded it to be a great sense of herself coming through her skin.  I trusted her explanation against any interpretation of “weirdness” of this journey.  “Weird” how?  Not really sure, but it would be what everyone else told me.  I had been privately trying to appreciate and learn my femininity; dance in front of the mirror, sleep naked and other strategies.  Now, I am in the presence of beautiful, strong examples of people comfortable with their bodies.  Nudity was never really the issue; it was moments of vulnerability of a social setting, augmented by nudity.  Everyone else’s comfort guided mine.  Extremely lucky to have such a chance to communally savor ourselves. ---Bria

“Of all the places I could have spent my birthday weekend, I chose the Naturist experience in Maine.  One year ago was my first encounter, I expected some vulnerability but completely found myself at peace.  Surrounded by primarily female-bodied individuals.  Casual name introductions turned into long conversations and eventually, on year later, life long friends.  Today as I write this, my sentiments are still the same.  I am thankful to be here and look forward to my return.” --- Kristin

“Its such an honor to be amongst such an amazing group of women.  Jas, you are a wonder! This is my 2^nd naturist adventure and my oh my what a piece of peace it was.  Before coming I craved a serene environment.  Somewhere full of insight, laughter and great spirits.  When I arrived full smiles and nude bodies greeted me.  Glorious!  Leaving is never fun but inevitable.  Full, relaxed and ready to face the world! Comfort is a state of mind, self-loving takes time and peace starts within.  These are lessons I continue to learn and teach.  I’m so glad to have a place where I can simply be.” ---Zek

“Being a naturist, I chose to experience my nudity outdoors in natural environments and indoors within communities of diverse people in non sexual environments.  For me, it’s a choice to openly and intimately experience myself in every season.  I openly and intimately embrace all of the elements: air, fire, water, earth.  And I commit to maintaining practices of self-love and self-acceptance through all the seasons of my life.  I chose to have my first naturist experience during a time in my life when I was consciously seeking and exploring personal, spiritual and tangible liberation and freedom.” Jasmine Burems – Honey & Gold – The Goddess Lifestyle

Today, January 15 is my 33^rd birthday a deeply spiritual and life-enhancing year.  I decided to write this today because birth is beautiful and we are brought into this life through our wombs and born again in many different ways and forms throughout our life's path.  There is something especially special about the “birthday suit” no airs or assumptions, full of hope and optimism in what can sometimes be a cruel reality.  I am now a proud bonafide nudist and plan to fully participate in the Naturist community.  I have been transformed through this experience and will continue to learn and grow in this intimacy that I share with myself in the community of others who desire to grow and expand in this very short life that we all have.  I am born again…

MAKING THE CASE FOR WOMEN’S LIBERATION: WOMEN ARE TARGETS OF VIOLENCE AT THE HANDS OF WALL STREET

Remarks: CLAW - Clear Action for/by Women
11/25/11 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women: Women Dismantle Wall Street

Jasmine Burnett

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.739504864708.2147201.54703316&type=1

On this day the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women we have to be more firm, direct and vigilant then ever before in our fight for Women’s Liberation!  Women are the victims and survivors of Economic, Political, Sexual and Economic Violence!

The images that drive the sexual, political, economic and military violence against women globally must be challenged.  A sister feminist whose analysis I’m going to reference throughout this speech is Elaine Charkowsky who simply said let’s just call it what it is and that is “Male Violence Against Women.”

When I look at the billboards around this city, various ads banking billions of dollars on the sexualized images and bodies of women, I’m clear that its not women making these decisions.  When I look at the racist and sexist anti-abortion billboards splashed all across this country with African American and Hispanic children, claiming the most dangerous place for an African American and Latino is in the womb.  I wonder why we aren’t outraged at the justifications against control of our bodies without shaming our decisions that is not liberation!

Let’s talk about the images that are subliminal that around violence that we must directly address.

Breaking the silence

Male violence against women must be named specifically for it to be isolated and eliminated. Dealing with male violence is not a part of being a woman! All men are responsible and must be held accountable for ending violence against women.  In their families, homes, on the street and in the boardroom where decisions are made that construct our images. 

Some of the excuses for watering down violence against women are as follows:

Not all men are violent

Men do collectively hold more power than women and since men benefit from our society being sexist and male supremacist, non violent men are responsible for holding violent men accountable

This also must be applied racially!  All whites benefit from living in a racist society because it applies unearned privileges and advantages, even those who do not commit racist acts!  We must hold each other accountable!

Women are violent too

Men commit 88 percent of violent crime (US Bureau of Justice statistics). Women don't build rape camps to torture and molest men to death. Women don't control the U.S. government which spends more than half a trillion dollars a year on mass murder (war). Globally, women can't walk alone without the possibility of men assaulting them. The reverse is not true. 

Token Women

Even though some broken token women may collaborate with patriarchal men to gain power it doesn't change the fact that patriarchal men are in charge and allow selected token "honorary men" into the boys club–if they identify with, and behave like, patriarchal men.

We cannot be lump acts of violence in a universal language, male violence against women must be named specifically.

The power disparity between women and men is the reason for some women’s dysfunctional behavior. It is not an excuse for it:

 “We know that Some lesbians also batter their partners”

This results from internalized dysfunctional heterosexual behavior absorbed from a patriarchal society in which the dominating partner (the man) batters the woman. Male violence against women is the blueprint for lesbian vs lesbian battering.

“Some women also commit racist violence against women”

Racism (male violence based on race) was created and implemented by dysfunctional men to “divide and conquer.” Male violence based on the “otherness” of the oppressed is the blueprint for racist attacks inflicted by some women upon “other” women. This results when women internalize racism and identify with the dominating race (including men)-instead of bonding with oppressed women. Racism is only possible when inflicted by the race possessing the most political and economic power (racism=prejudice+power over). Thus, women of dominated races cannot commit racism against women of the dominating race-only prejudice.

Racism and Sexism

Male violence against women of the same race is clearly seen as sexism. However, male violence against women of different races is often obscured by being seen as just racism instead of racism and sexism.  It is racism and sexism outside of our race and it is sexism within our race.

“Some women also exploit women sexually and economically

Hatred and contempt of women-including themselves-is the underlying issue. Women who exploit other women identify with and see themselves through the eyes of women however they also see themselves through the eyes the oppressor (male supremacists who have contempt for women). 

 The absent referent: Stop the omissions

Agent deletion is common, concerning male violence against women. Timid terms such as "sexual violence," "domestic violence" "gender-based violence," and "violence" refer to men without naming them, even when describing instances when it was obviously men who raped hundreds of thousands of women in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and many other nations.

Even Amnesty International, which calls it "a global scourge," uses the term "violence against women" and “sexual violence” instead of "male violence against women."  http://www.amnesty.org/en/campaigns/stop-violence-against-women.

"Men also rape men and boys."

Rape is a male hate crime against women. However, this use of universal language around violence attempts to portray rape as a gender-neutral atrocity. The fact that men also rape men and boys doesn’t change the fact that in every nation on earth, in all levels of society, men rape women. Even when men rape males, contempt for women is the underlying issue. Men rape males to degrade them by treating them like raped women.

 

If white supremacist men batter a black man, it’s clearly seen as a racist hate crime, even though white man also batter white men. In the same manner, rape is a hate crime against women, even though men also rape men.

"What we resist persists." 

You are resisting today by just being here, showing up and standing in solidarity. Opposing women's oppression directly is only one tactic. Another is using Sonia Johnson’s tactic of not confronting oppression directly in other situations where you aren’t under immediate threat of physical violence. This is done by being proactive by supporting women in their efforts to gain universal human rights. This can be done by volunteering at women’s shelters, donating to groups that help women in impoverished nations and many other ways. Both tactics are necessary.

 Let go of the “passive voice”

In English grammar, using the passive voice (women were raped by men) instead of the active voice (men raped the women) shifts the focus from the perpetrators and their actions (men doing the raping) to their victims (the women being raped).  

"Boys will be boys"

Patriarchal cultures promote "nature over nurture" (biological determinism) and claim men are "naturally violent." This legitimizes and perpetuates war and men's abuse of women. Abnormal violent "manhood" is regarded as the norm.

However, men are naturally peaceful.  It's proven today by famous non-violent men such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and many other men who organize against warfare and who speak out against male violence against women.

It takes years of traumatic conditioning (while being immersed in a violent society) to make men violent. "Military training camps, police academies and even some self-defense pros are constantly searching for more effective methods of suppressing the human revulsion to taking human life.”

If men were “naturally violent,” years of brutal conditioning by violent media and in boot camps would not be needed.

As a movement, we MUST change the way we think, speak and act about male violence against women and how that affects how we see ourselves and treat each other.  What you can do today hold yourself and the institutions like Wall Street accountable, vote, write, blog, tweet about it, call it what it is and use your active voice!  We can no longer passively participate in maintaining patriarchal acts of violence against women!

 

Sharing voice... Internal criticisms on movement building

I'm finding that the opportunity and the challenge in progressive movement building is sharing our voice.  Many times people find a home and a vehicle for change in their personal lives and the lives of their communities and families, through making their struggle with space and place in this country visible.  Progressive activists are those who come to this work bringing our stories, our struggles, our optimism, but where does it get twisted?

I think we talk a lot about the change that we seek.  We create these incredible strategies many times  with limited means for doing what needs to be done.   Doing so  under impossible circumstances related to resources, time, and the still maintaining and growing ability to fight off continuous attacks to protect our right to live.  It can be stressful but what can create even more stress related to this movement is the way in which fellow activists and employers  take care of each other.

Is our culture amongst each other and within progressive institutions reflective the values that guide our work?  Its a rhetorical question but one that warrants much reflection.  One thing the opposition to progressive movement has is a tight network and they come from a shared value position.  If we want to win this has to change.

I think, maybe some people are afraid of activism because we are dealing with these heavy topics related to our bodies and our lives.  Fighting the fact that we are trying to protect our lives from this way of life, that our oppositional anti forces believe is the most moral and ethical way of living life.  Then, we have our internal challenges in working together.

Really,  what is this all about? We talk about these values connected to the work we do and how those values guide how we do it, but are we reflecting those values among the progressive individuals and within the institutions and community that we create?  Or is it just a reflection of our values and not the practice.

On my best days as an organizer, grassroots activist I see progress and solidarity in our voices and how we transfer those values into the ways in which we treat each other within our movement and its institutions. Just because we are in unison with social justice framework, we come from it bringing our valuable individual voices and that must be respected.  There is no honor in being burned out from challenges within our movement when we have so much we're fighting for to protect our lives and our communities who benefit from the social change of our collective activism.