Y’all, I’ve been on a journey. A journey to give birth to an idea. A journey to embody my philosophies. A journey to acknowledge, accept, and activate my own potential.
Last time I was here, I had just graduated from my MS in Technical Communication program in North Carolina, and was looking toward dealing with change and what’s next. Turns out, what was next for me was to move to Austin, TX, become a tarot reader and healer, reconnect with my art, build community, join the board of the Queer Black Women Alliance, get a beautiful cat called Full Moon, and now, get to the purpose of this entire post:
I’m launching Litberation.
What is Litberation?
Those of you who knew me in my childhood hardly saw me without a book. Growing up in Haiti, books were my favorite escape and way to connect to the worlds beyond my shores. Yet, Haitian literature was hard to find. Your former master never truly sponsors your art; they only help you to give birth to your brain child so they can sell it or bury it.
After all, right after the independence declaration, France quickly understood they could no longer rule our physical bodies, but they could install themselves in our minds. So we’d never get to study liberation from the minds of the descendants of one of the greatest revolutions in history. But I’m getting away from my main point. Maybe.
I’m launching Litberation.
The year is 2020, I’m basically living under Raleigh’s tall oak trees by that point. I’d just discovered #Bookstagram and once again found myself buried in pages of authors I’d never heard of. The outside world was in shambles, so I adorned mine with meaningful stories. Every day I’d create a cozy alcove with blankets and cushions, tarot decks, canvases, and colors. And always, always a candle.
I remember my father doing the same on Sunday mornings. He’d drag a chair to the gallery, and under our kenèp tree, he’d read for hours while scribbling on a notepad. We are part of a grounded tradition.
Because, see, Literature is a cornerstone of Ayitian culture. Booksellers line the streets, and romance novels line young girls’ backpacks. We read in all light conditions; under the tropical sun, streetlights, oil lamps, flashlights… And of course, dangerously close to thin white votive candles, sticking to a plate, in a dried pool of their own wax.
Reading: a convergent beam of light. Awakened by the warmth of a guiding light, reflected against pages and lines of blazing, universal truth, and swallowing the flames, becoming the Sun, leading. Bursting into Luminaries.
Litberation is my heart in art form. An amalgamation of the things I love, the gifts I must pour out into the world. Adding my colors to a new mosaic. Giving meaning to dreams and lived stories.
Okaaay….so what is it exactly??
Litberation is also an organization in the real world, a space carved out for us who dare.
Grounding my visions, I am now launching Litberation as a social enterprise that is dedicated to stimulating Liberation literacy, facilitating Community Healing through Art, and promoting Black Diaspora Culture and Literature.
I curate unique events that center explorations of Freedom, by participating in creative activities that help us dive into our definitions of being free, internally and externally.
Litberation is also an Art boutique that offers items that aid us in acknowledging and focusing our powers to create change. Helping us to create spaces that make us feel liberated, that prompts us to think of how to assist others in doing the same.
My first offerings that will be available at the boutique (litberation.com) on March 2 are candles. Each of the 8 custom fragrances that I concocted for the Vanguard collection is inspired by Haitian or Black American storytellers and thinkers who heavily impacted my view of Liberation as a concept, and a practice.
The meaning behind each candle stems from an imagined encounter and conversation with each author. Some are your favorites; some, I hope, will soon earn their spot on your shelves. These libations are for Audre Lorde, Franketienne, James Baldwin, Frantz Fanon, Octavia Butler, Marie Vieux Chauvet, Maya Angelou, and Edwidge Danticat.
Revenue from these items helps me to keep healing events’ ticket prices low and support local QTPOC communities with the bartering practice.
In Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown talks of the power of small interactions to create multidimensional systems of change, from the micro to the macro. I want to help provide the space for those moments of connection and growth.
What’s next?
I’ll be hosting Litberation’s 2-Day Inaugural Weekend at Dorothy’s Cafe in Austin on March 2 and 3, 2024! The online boutique will go live on March 2. Each day during that weekend, I will host a “Create your own candle fragrance” workshop, where we will blend 3-5 fragrance oils to create signature scents, based on the image that freedom conjures up for each of us.
Then, we will create a candle from scratch, that we will pour into decorative vessels that complement any home decor. We get to take home one of our sensual definitions of freedom that we can meditate on whenever we light it.
The healing space and refreshments will be provided by Dorothy’s ATX Café, a LatinX Queer-Owned Safe Space, that proudly celebrates its Mexican roots and LGBTQIA2S+ pride. When creating the name, Alex Lopez, the owner and pastry chef was inspired by the phrase “Friend of Dorothy”, which dates back to WWII and served as a secret code to protect gay men from hostility as they tried to build community.
How can you support me?
Buy my shit LMFAO. Hello??
Okay, seriously though, there are several ways that you can support me in making this a successful and meaningful experience and project for our communities:
- Mark your calendar for the official launch of litberation.com on March 2.
- Follow me @litberation on all the social media sites and Humanitix for event notifications.
- Like and share my posts and tag your friends.
- Write reviews if you do purchase a piece or attend an event.
- Donate event tickets to QTPOC community members if you can’t attend.
- Bring Litberation up in discussions of gifts, especially for the bookworm in your circle (it’s probably you ngl), or the one you want to encourage to do the reading.
- Honestly, just send me good vibes.
- And reach out if you need more details.
Litberation is the alignment of my lived experiences, my talents, my learning, my love, my soul, and my chosen path.
This first iteration of the full vision in my mind is dedicated to those who lit the way, and all of us doing the same, on our own journeys.
R.A.J. 