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I knew her first through the curve of her signature, the pressure of her type-written words, the persistence of her mimeographed hand. Candice Boyce, the signature announcing and insisting on the existence of a publication like none I had ever seen before, the Salsa Soul Third World Women’s Gayzette. As I sat in the upstairs room of the Lesbian Herstory Archive imagining what it must have been like to create an affirming and magical social world for lesbians of color in the 1970’s and 80’s it was Candice’s signature that I traced over with my fingers, with gratitude. It was Candice’s name that I saw behind my eyelids when I closed them to breathe: “thank you, for leaving a record.”
Without the work Candice did, I never would have known about the Salsa Soul Sisters. And because of Candice’s textual vigilance when I sat in a room with Harriet Alston and Carolyn Gray and heard them talk about Salsa Soul, I felt as if I already knew them, as if meeting them was coming home. Without Candice we may have never had the conversation and the context to create the MobileHomeComing Project.
Maybe Candice knew we were coming, those younger quirky queer world creating women who would need to know that we were not the first to make the world over in our own images, to build affirming space, and craft our own rituals, because according to Harriet she was diligent with her camera, one of these people with a visionary talent for remembering the future, and therefore documenting the present. Every click of her camera said we were here. This happened. Never again will anyone be able to say lesbian women of color who love themselves and love each other did not exist.
By the time we started seeking out and celebrating Salsa Soul members, Candice was already very sick. We learned about her past adventures through Harriet and Carolyn and Imani Rashid, we also learned about her deteriorating condition every time we asked her chosen sisters how she was doing. Which means I have never said in person what must be said:
Thank you Candice for living your purpose. Thank you Candice for creating a record. Thank you Candice, for your legible legacy and for teaching us what it means to live, forever.
love,
Alexis Pauline Gumbs for Julia Roxanne Wallace and the MobileHomeComing Project
*Note: We are thrilled to be practicing intergenerational love and we are learning from the best. This piece is a beautiful reflection by MobileHomeComing Interviewee Angela Denise Davis about FINDING her mother’s garden.
I know there is a poem in this somewhere. It almost got lost this evening when my mother did a final spray over her garden and did not notice that my laptop was on the patio table.
My mother’s back yard is full of flavor: an old kitchen, ceiling fan turned sideways on a patio column, a black mailbox that peeks from the grapevines, an umbrella on the deck that leans to kiss the umbrella on the patio, and a striped snake whose presence is the reason for a container of mothballs on the table. I wish I had a camera.
Her back yard is her sanctuary. I find shelter in a chair that is snuggled by a palm plant and a family of pots – terra cotta, green plastic, clay, metal, and those invented out of found objects.
She is out there in the morning and in the late evening when the sun is less brutal than at mid-day.
I watched this evening as she cut down wandering vines and swept the patio clean. My father will have work to do tomorrow. I ask if I should put the cut greenery in the garden trash can.
“No,” she says.
“Mama, dad ain’t gonna like seeing this stuff on his fresh cut lawn,” I tell her.
She just replies with a chuckle that he needs to see all the work he should have done. She said he would never recognize her work if she didn’t leave the pile in the yard. She is right, of course. My father says she works too hard, but he enjoys the creation of vines structure and spirit as much as she does.
I listen as the water from the faucet trickles into a bucket she has slid under the attached hose.
“I don’t like to waste water,” she informs me and I take the bucket into her garden. The Marigolds did not get rain last night. They will thrive in their homes made of the holes in the cement blocks that line her rows of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and okra.
There is always work to do in this space my mother has created. This evening she wants to place hooks on the beams of her patio roof.
“Who does this when I am not here, Mama?” I ask with the answer already in my head.
“Oh, your dad,” she says. I know that she does not always have the patience to wait for him, though. Tonight, I make sure that she does not over exert herself and reach for the drill in her hand.
I step on the small, metal stool and place the drill over my head, reaching as high as I can. Three hooks later, we place the ferns and other potted plants just beneath the lattice covered with wild vines. She tells me that anyone from Alabama or Mississippi would know the name of the mass of greenery that hangs from the patio roof like a blanket of leaves. I tell her that I will ask Mary Anne about the vine which my mother thinks may be named Ms. Astor.
The night was closing fast around us, but I would not go in the house until my mother was trailing behind me. I knew that she could always find more work to do before calling it quits. She will be 70 years-old next January. She has more work in this life than she will ever finish.
“We’ll get the rest in the morning,” I tell her.
This week has been full of heart work. We have grieved the loss of her niece, my cousin. It has been a loss that has made our distance more regretful. Here, in her green world we seem to be finding our way back home to each other. We are two women working on reconciliation. Perhaps, we are planting new ways of being mother and daughter. I hope so, but do not invest too much time in expecting what the harvest of these days will bring. I am simply satisfied with the knowledge that we have planted something new between us here in her back yard even though there is more work for tomorrow.
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Greetings Family…
So our Revolutionary Vehicle is having a Harriet Tubman moment. Remember the story of how Harriet Tubman took a blow to the head? And she was laid out in the immediate moment, BUT she also started to see the revolutionary visions that led her to become a superhero for freedom? Well our beloved, beautiful purple and turquoise revolutionary MobileHomeComing is having a Harriet Tubman moment. But right now she’s in a bit of a coma. On the way to infinite superpowers and the journey to freedom…injustice rears its head.
Yesterday morning injustice hit us in the form of an unfortunate person who is in an unjust economic position that causes him to break in to vehicles and steal radios. He broke into the Revolutionary Vehicle and stole the radio and Julia’s keyboard (for some reason he didn’t take any of the priceless Black feminist books that I had in there). Fate would have it that he was still in the act of stealing when Julia got into the RV to move it down the driveway for us to pack it up to head to Nashville early that morning. Julia said she would just get back out of the vehicle but the person pointed something at her and threatened her and (using her already existing superpowers) Julia jumped from the moving vehicle, which continued to roll down the driveway and into the street and then crashed into the neighbor’s trashcan and we ran back into the house. We called on some of our beloved comrades (Deepali, Carlton and Kari) and within minutes they came to the house to help us. (A police officer also briefly stopped by and was not very helpful. He seemed to just want to make sure that Julia and I actually owned the RV and had not stolen it. He also left us and the RV in the middle of the street, blocking the entire roadway. Two thumbs down for the police.) Deepali, Carlton, Kari and a neighbor actually moved our 20 foot RV with the force of their love to the side of the street and lifted our spirits and reminded us that as a community we are already and will always be unstoppable.
The Revolutionary Vehicle is having a Harriet Tubman moment. Her radiator, condenser, engine fan and front lights are busted and she bled out all her anti-freeze it looks like it will take about $3000 to get her drivable again. 😦
Cherished MobileHomeComing family member and Yoruba priestess Ifalade Tashia Asanti brought us words of peace and strength when we told her that we would not be able to make to the event she had planned for us in Louisville, Kentucky. She let us know that this event as scary as it was, was an act of protection. We were NOT supposed to be on the road that day. We rented (and transformed) this car to be our RRV (Rental Revolutionary Vehicle) for our delayed journey to Detroit.
We believe that we will always be exactly where we need to be and that our journey is divinely ordered so we are regrouping with the support of all of the loved ones who have called and visited to give their blessings to us and to remind us our journey, our movement and our collective future is bigger and brighter than anything we can imagine.
We have made a video about what happened and how we are feeling about it. We are already grateful for being part of this victory. If you can donate it would be very helpful…and if you can spread the word to other supportive people we would appreciate that as well.
We love you and we can’t wait to see you…with the Sojourner the Revolutionary Vehicle intact and back in effect.
love always,
Alexis and Julia
We got our Revolutionary Vehicle!!!!!
Dear Family,
With your support Julia and Alexis have actually obtained the RV (Revolutionary Vehicle) that will transport us to you and all of our far flung loved ones to document the resilience and brilliance of Black queer folks across generations!
love,
lex and julia
It’s never too late to help us out with gas money and living-on-the-road costs! Donate or become a monthly sustainer today!
Click below on the amount that feels generously doable to you to sign up for an automatic monthly donation (you do not have to sign up for a paypal account):
For a one time motivation donation click below!
1) Click DONATE.
2) Enter an Amount.
3) Click Continue.
(or login to your paypal account).
4) Follow instructions to finish your transaction. You’re Done!
turquoise lace edition (aka the victoria's secret of booklets)
Once upon a time visionary lovebirds Alexis and Julia were apart for 12 whole days :(, counting the seconds until they could be in the same place and envision revolutionary brilliance together again… Alexis decided to make the countdown liveable and poetic by writing daily love poems to Julia. This year for valentine’s day Lex has decided to publish her infinite love in the form of tiny handmade booklets which can be yours for a sweet donation of 14 delicious dollars or more between now and valentines day!
1) Click DONATE.
2) Enter an Amount. And note “12 Days” with the coverstyle that you prefer
3) Click Continue.
(or login to your paypal account).
4) Follow instructions to finish your transaction. You’re Done!
Top 12 reasons that you REALLY want to get a copy of 12 days before they’re all gone:
12. For the sweet gift basket you are assembling for your sweetie(s).
11.Because you love poetry.
10. Because you are going to create your own long-distance love countdown and you want a model.
9. Because they are just so beautiful!
crimson cover editon (aka fledgling lust)
8. Because you are going to cross out Lex and Julia’s names and pretend you wrote this for your honey-to-be for a valentine’s day guarantee.
7. Because you support queer black love period.
6. Because you know that the MobileHomeComing is all about you and the world you want to live in.
5. Because you are a romantic, and this will distract you from the sappy Hallmark channel Valentine’s Day specials.
black and white edition (aka julia in a tux!)
4. Because you are a fellow do it yourself revolutionary!
3. Because you believe that our ancestors return to us in the form of love.
2. Because you are nosy to see what kind of sweet nothings and everythings Lex be telling Julia to keep that smile so big and bright.
1. Because you are the BEST!
Turquoise and Hot Pink Duct Tape Editon (aka Dkye-tastic!)
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