{"id":1071,"date":"2022-03-20T15:59:49","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T20:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/?p=1071"},"modified":"2022-03-20T16:01:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T21:01:00","slug":"march-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/2022\/03\/march-20\/","title":{"rendered":"March 20: Queer Freedom: Black Sovereignty and Colonialism"},"content":{"rendered":"

When discussing the conquista<\/em> and colonialism as a whole, we tend to imagine these concepts as historical artifacts\u2014as happenings of the past that are in indeed still impacting the present and that will continue the affect the future. However, I appreciate Lara\u2019s exploration of Christian colonialism as an active concept of the present, not an aging\u00a0actor of the past. If I understand correctly, Lara expresses this in her statement that, \u201cThe reification and instantiation of gender binaries, racial hierarchies, and heteronormativity become dense knots expressing the disciplinary powers of Christian coloniality\u2026body-lands are conquered and settled for the perpetuation of Christendom\u201d (68). This is an incredibly powerful analysis by Lara that again removes colonially from its traditional perception by describing peoples\u2019 bodies, particularly those of indigenous and Black queer individuals, as what is being conquered in the present day. By using the concept of “body-lands,” we can better understand present-day colonialism as not only conquering physical land but also peoples’ bodies\/sovereignty.<\/p>\n

While many of the topics that Lara touches on are rather heavy and tragic elements of the Caribbean\u2019s past and present, I was particularly inspired by one of her responses to the lack of queer freedom : Black sovereignty in the world today: \u201c<\/span>There is no door to magically go through and become another. <\/i>This is the world we have received, on loan from future generations, as an inheritance from our ancestors\u2014all of our ancestors, including those yet to come. And so now, we must transform it\u201d (18). I feel as though I have heard few academics express this kind of hope (at least in my recent studies and readings!) and encouragement for present generations; it seems that in academics, we do tend to focus on the rather upsetting, horrific elements of the world\u00a0and rightfully so. However, Lara, here, was intentionally expressing–speaking almost like a parent to a child in the way she expresses to us as readers–that we must understand this is the context we have to work with; we must make a change in this world because it is the only one we have.<\/p>\n

Finally, I also wanted to mention how\u00a0Lara\u2019s use of the ofrenda<\/em> as a form of framing her book and her argument. I think by doing this, she creates a space where her argument can rest,\u00a0expressing that her\u00a0argument has been placed out in the open\u00a0and has been offered to the readers for debate, contemplation and hopefully even action. It is also a space where a new future can be imagined. Lara says,\u00a0\u201cThis ofrenda serves as a method that enables the process of imagining land restoration, the interruption of trauma, the possibilities of new histories, and the erotic autonomy\u00a0<\/i>of queer : Indigenous and queer : Black beings\u201d (5).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When discussing the conquista and colonialism as a whole, we tend to imagine these concepts as historical artifacts\u2014as happenings of the past that are in indeed still impacting the present and that will continue the affect the future. However, I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9407,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9407"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1071"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1074,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071\/revisions\/1074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/researchmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}