reflections on the negation of Blackness//affirmations of our clairvoyance through creative healing praxes

Abstract

The negation of Black people is pervasive in the historical genealogy of white supremacy. Black society, and Blackness, as defined and fabricated by Western thought and action, exists in “outer-space” (Sexton, 2011). However, white constructs of Blackness are merely that—constructs. This piece acts in three parts: 1) an intellectual conversation with scholarly thought holders, 2) a space of personal reflection and interpersonal dialogue, and 3) pieces of prose and imagery that embody various forms of Blackness. This piece explores Black clairvoyance through examples of Black youth identities, social movement politics and practices, and affirmations of our creations, sacred spaces, and rituals. Our praxes are visible in our daily gestures even as we hold trauma—sometimes informal or episodic—but always seeped in love, creativity, ancestry, and spirituality, existing as moments of movement and healing resistance.