Embodied, Connected Pleasure

A Black woman in a swimsuit smiles with closed eyes as she floats in a swimming pool on a bright yellow pool ring.

True pleasure—joy, happiness and satisfaction—has been the force that helps us move beyond the constant struggle, that helps us live and generate futures beyond this dystopic present, futures worthy of our miraculous lives.

Pleasure—embodied, connected pleasure—is one of the ways we know when we are free. That we are always free. That we always have the power to co-create the world. Pleasure helps us move through the times that are unfair, through grief and loneliness, through the terror of genocide, or days when the demands are just overwhelming. Pleasure heals the places where our hearts and spirit get wounded. Pleasure reminds us that even in the dark, we are alive. Pleasure is a medicine for the suffering that is absolutely promised in life.

Excerpt from Pleasure Activism, pp. 437-438.

Rev. Paige Getty suggests the following introduction to this reading:

"Pleasure Activism is a book written especially for Black women and others whose experiences have too often been characterized by marginalization, shame, and systemic oppression; who haven’t had access to pleasure, or who have been shamed for their pleasure. brown writes..."