Instruments of protest
And the many ways we resist
Over the weekend I was walking home through a small park when I heard a sound as eerie as it was captivating. The source of the music came from a Brazilian woman playing a berimbau, an instrument that came to Brazil via Angola. The berimbau has one string, but is more percussion, with the attached gourd determining pitch. Brazilian musicians have adopted it as an instrument of protest.
Curious, I looked it up and discovered a gorgeous poem by Brazilian American writer and friend Ananda Lima. The poem begins—
BERIMBAU
O sopro é do vento
we keep moving sopro
and voices pass and later
and earlier chords always
take
a turn to the percussive
or if they stay it’s in service
of the beat of running
the percussion of meat
and bones cracking
dirt…
Lima’s recent collection, CRAFT: STORIES I WROTE FOR THE DEVIL is a fantastic read.
Now is a good time to honor Puerto Rican writer Patricia Coral. Coral just published her debut memoir, WOMEN SURROUNDED BY WATER. It’s tough to describe—heartfelt and heartbreaking; part poetry, part narrative; a rendering of the women in Coral’s life, including herself, as they navigate hardship, pain, love, and the Puerto Rican diaspora.
Last week I shared some resources with you. Here are a few more that came from readers. Thank you! And please keep them coming.
The website Wagingnonviolence.org which has a newsletter and terrific ideas
Chop Wood, Carry Water, Jessica Craven’s excellent action-oriented newsletter
And here is a short video of my thoughts this week. I’m trying to follow my own advice (always a tall order!) and am near completing a third draft of a novel in process.
Here’s to you and yours.
Love, Martha
P.S. ICYMI, here is last week’s newsletter: Some resources for the present moment
Great resources, Martha, thanks for making me aware of them.