The Edges in the Middle, V: Báyò Akómoláfé, Naomi Klein, and Yuria Celidwen
Photo by Hammed Usman of a Yoruba statue signifying maternity nature and the flourishing of future generations upon the altar of ancestors at the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Nigeria.
Continuing the conversation series, “The Edges in the Middle,” presented in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute, For The Wild is delighted to share Báyò Akómoláfé, Naomi Klein and Yuria Celidwen.
Speaking about climate grief and hope, Báyò, Naomi, and Yuria build together to consider the value in tapping into the depth of emotion as we feel it, not as we are told we should feel it. In a time marked by disruption, loss, and demise, grief may be an invitation into depths that demand to be listened to, and as we embody the grieving process we are called to surrender to feeling.
Combating the idea that we must perform hope and instead pointing out hope as a carceral thing when it prevents us from feeling the spectrum of emotions, Bayo, Naomi, and Yuria instead turn to the idea that we might find solace within the web of our relations - both human and more-than-human. The identity of the collective web highlights our ecological belonging. What forms of life and narrative may emerge and transition as we move towards stories of belonging?
This conversation contemplates the waves of grief and gratitude that mark our lives. In order to change, we must surrender, and with this we must find ways to make space and sanctuary for the transition. As we settle into the composting of old frameworks and the emergence of something else entirely, how do we treat one another as we fall down and falter together?
“Grieving is not in the way. Grieving together, falling apart together might very well be the most ecstatic, the most animated politics in response to these moments. ”
“The Edges in the Middle” is a series of conversations between Báyò Akómoláfé and thought companions like john a. powell, V, Naomi Klein, and more. These limited episodes have been adapted from Báyò’s work as the Global Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute. In this role, Báyò has been holding a series of public conversations on issues of justice and belonging for the Institute's Democracy & Belonging Forum, which connects and resources civic leaders in Europe and the US who are committed to bridging across difference to strengthen democracy and advance belonging in both regions and around the world. Báyò's conversations encourage us to rethink justice, hope, and belonging by sitting amidst the noise, not trying to cover it up with pleasant rhythms. To learn more about the Democracy & Belonging Forum, visit democracyandbelongingforum.org.
Describing The Edges in the Middle, Báyò Akómoláfé writes, “These explorations are not ‘safe’. These encounters will probably be offensive (we hope they are). This is not a preaching to the choir. This is a jumping-off-from-tightropes into potentially risky and emancipatory waters. This is a material inquiry of the unsayable, a leaning into the places we are not supposed to go to, a reconsideration of the ordinary, and a refusal to reify anything touched as finished, declared, transmitted, or final. As a ritual of inquiry at the end of the world, this is a material-discursive-pedagogic attempt at breaking through the sensory monoculture of compliance and cyclicity. Most importantly, this is a call for you to create-destroy with us, to with-ness, to greet more-than-human entities, to be pierced through, to be undone.” With this, we encourage you to listen to these conversations with curiosity and open exploration. How might we grow from challenge, from inquiry? What might the trickster bring to the table?
♫ The music featured in this episode is “Dauntless” and “Shapeshifter Skies” by Sitka Sun, generously provided by The Long Road Society Record Label and “Symbol Cure” by Mikayla McVey.
Photo of Báyò Akómoláfé
Photo of Yuria Celidwen
Photo of Naomi Klein
Episode References
Don't Look Up (2021) - IMDb
Visit the original conversation:
https://belonging.berkeley.edu/video-naomi-klein-bayo-akomolafe-and-yuria-celidwen-climate-grief-and-hope
The Edges in the Middle Series:
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Bayo, Cecile, and Sa’ed explore how honoring each other’s grief may allow us to reclaim each other’s humanity and perhaps shed light on a path forward to belonging in Israel-Palestine, for Muslims, Jews, and Christians, and for all people around the world.