twitter thread inspired by webinar talk by jewelle gomez
february 17, 2021
Yesterday I had the gift of space to attend this talk in the fading afternoon light of my parents’ house—one of my homes—where I am for the pandemic. I looked out the window at the trees, at the sky expecting snow, as I clicked “join webinar.” I was quilting a baby blanket +
for an old friend who also is part of home for me. Not because we’re so similar or always in touch, but because we always make sure to come back to each other, and doing so has the deep comfort and ease of having had intertwined roots. I was sewing our heritage and +
her baby’s future name into the fabric as Jewelle Gomez read from her famous Gilda Stories and then told us that “you have to carry home in your hands.”
My first thought upon hearing Gomez’s advice was that I can’t, in literal terms, touch the land of some of my ancestors. +
But I had just finished a hike in the woods before settling down for this talk. The trees in other places are friendly neighbors, but they don’t have the same feeling of companionship of these at home. Every day is different in the steadiness of the woods. +
This day, I had held on to several ironwood saplings for balance on the ice.
So I thought about how the trees had held me up, and the fact that I was making this quilt, holding and making home. The stitches would make sure my friend and her baby could always do the same. +
We have to carry home in our hands.
We might already be doing that.
Thank you for creating and sharing this series with strangers: @tuckeve, K. Wayne Yang, Sogorea Te’ Land Community Trust, and the lovely people at Diablo Valley College. Thank you, Jewelle Gomez. 💝
Originally tweeted by irene h. yoon, ph.d. (@hongwon) on February 18, 2021.