and a poem
Jason C. Méndez
Health Promotion Practice February 15, 2023 DOI: 10.1177/15248399221145161 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Presents a poem, "Remember the wind," that uses the dandelion's life cycle to explore mindfulness, impermanence, and interconnectedness, and frames mindful living within remembering, bearing witness, and personal and generational survival. The author describes the poem as an homage to three Black women scholars whose work shaped their voice. |
Abstract
"Survival is life after disaster, life in honor of our ancestors, despite the genocidal forces worked against them specifically so we would not exist. - from "The Shape of My Impact," by Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs. This poem explores the practice of mindful living within the context of remembering, bearing witness, and survival (personal and generational). The poem referenced within the title, "and a poem" is, "Remember the wind," written after Joy Harjo's poem, "Remember." "Remember the wind" uses the life cycle of a dandelion to explore the concepts of mindfulness, impermanence and interconnectedness. This poem is an homage to three brilliant Black women, Drs. Dara D. Méndez, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Tameka Cage Conley, whose scholarship, creative practice, and troublemaking have taught me how to turn my voice up. To view the original version of this poem, see the supplemental material section of this article online.