Rest is seldomly considered an integral part of a movement. Black women have long been ascribed the title of strong and resilient as if caring for ourselves as well as living as opposed to survival does not apply to us.
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” In coming to terms with her cancer diagnosis and the facing mortality, Audre Lorde ideates on the necessity of rest as a part of caring for ourselves. Black women globally exist in a world of constant tension which is rooted in racist and patriarchal tropes of “the strong Black woman.” This harmful cultural trope perpetuates a narrative of Black women being self-sacrificial, resilient and obstinate. This seeps and saturates through generations, resulting in the adultification of Black girls. Young Black girls are propelled into the front of activism from a young age, whether in chilling images of young girls chanting at Black Lives Matter protests in the United States to teenage girls in South Africa having to resist a system that polices their hair and bodies. Adjectives of fierce, resilient, brave and strong hang as an albatross of sorts over the heads of Black girls. It is set in prophecy that the journey of Black women from girlhood to the grave will be tethered to constant resistance.
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Recalling the images of the Fees Must Fall Movement in South Africa, a movement which was advocating for the decolonization of universities in South Africa as well as access to tertiary education for all, Black feminists stood at the frontlines subjected to police brutality and acts of violence through physical and sexual assault within the movement. There was no normalization of rest and healing for Black women and feminists who were called to protest against the war on women and queer folk in South Africa. Tricia Hersey, known as the Nap Bishop expressed sentiments regarding the BLM protests which could find homes in the spirits of Black women across the world. “My dream during these times of protest against the police state are for more white folks to be on the front lines and for Black folks to be home healing, grieving and taking naps,” she states.
In an interview for Harper’s Bazaar, activist Rachel Cargyle says, “I felt that surviving as a Black woman was my job. Not being a writer, not being able to develop meaningful stuff. And so resting, writing for fun, just writing a silly story, or just reading a novel instead of going through and feeling like I need to read every race book that's ever been written so I feel more equipped to exist in the world. I just want to read books about puppies, and flowers, and sunsets. I could ask probably any of our close friends about what they're reading, and I guarantee you everyone would have an academic book in their backpack."
For Black women, resistance is not towards a singular domination. Beyond advocacy for the recognition and protection of women and queer folks, capitalism harnesses women to a life of exhaustion.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston states that “Black women are the mules of the world.” From slavery to modern day working conditions, Black women are expected to carry more weight in both their private lives and in the work place. The Black domestic in South Africa through time has been a woman who is required to exist as an inseparable appendage to families, cleaning homes, raising children and returning to small rooms on the property to sleep and begin again the next day. Instances of Black women being forced to reckon with the bone crushing heel of white supremacy and capitalism extend into corporate and myriad forms of labour to which somebody else will ultimately benefit.
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In Salvation, bell hooks warns against the glorification of selfless matriarchs who die sick and depleted. In reference to the character of Big Momma, hooks pulls at the discomfort of this image that has been popularized not only through modern media but has come to be expected of Black women. While being held at the Marin County Jail and facing multiple charges, Angela Davis offered the following sentiments in consideration of the Black matriarch: “The matriarchal Black woman has been invoked as one of the fatal by-products of slavery.” This is a truth which trespassed through the boundary of the transatlantic slave trade. In modern societies throughout the continent, Black matriarchs have been bound to roles of selfless carers who have to perform the labour of child rearing generations long into their old age.
Rest is a phenomenon that can radically and intentionally subvert ideology behind “strong Black women.” Rest is often touted as a luxury for Black women and the sustaining of intentional slowing down seems counterintuitive to Black women. This has an adverse effect on the quality of life that Black women lead.
Lorde recognized the necessity of rest, particularly in the pursuit of leading meaningful lives. Furthermore, movements such as the “Nap Ministry” provide a new way of existing for Black women and the capacity to use rest as a means to resist and self heal. Founded by Hersey, “Rest as Resistance” is a framework that centres community, art and communal naps as a framework and feminist praxis for rest. The importance of framework subverts notions of relentless resistance which may provide harm that manifests physically. Instead, self-healing through a healthy relationship with sleep is encouraged. In their own words, “Rest is a form of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy.”
Reflecting on her activism as a part of the Black Panther Party, Davis made utterances in conversation with Afropunk that alluded to the necessity of rest, healing and restoration in those days and what the movement may have looked like in that time. “For a long time, activists did not necessarily think that it mattered to take care of themselves; in terms of what they eat, in terms of mental self care, corporal self care, spiritual self care…It’s very dangerous not to recognise that as we struggle we are attempting to precise the world to come. And the world to come, should be one in which we acknowledge collectively and connections and relations and joy. And if we don’t start practicing collective self care now, there’s no way to imagine, much less reach, a time of freedom.” Rest as a radical feminist praxis cultivates longevity and meaningfulness to the lives of Black woman.