Rootwork Syllabus

From 2020 to 2023, alongside each of our major programs, Level Ground worked with artists to curate a themed media syllabus of podcasts, articles, films, books, etc. This syllabus, from 2023-2024 resident artist Kyla Carter dives into the connection between Black liberation and sexuality.

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CURATOR'S NOTE: 

“...racism is a visceral experience, that it dislodges brains, blocks airways, rips muscle, extracts organs, cracks bones, breaks teeth… What should be our aim beyond meager survival of constant, generational, ongoing battery and assault?” -Letter to My Son by Ta-Nehisi Coates

"Black bodies are relentlessly exploited, policed, and violated in ways that deny our autonomy leaving us to purge our minds from colonial memories and heal our bodies from ancestral wounds. I explore the historical implications of the dehumanization, objectification, bestialization, and sexualization of people within the Black diaspora as a means to understand the Black body’s relationship to autonomy and sexuality. With roots in the exploration of Black liberation through kink/BDSM and the centering of consent, shapeshifting, the healing of trauma in the body by honoring flesh and spirit, rest, self love, hair, shadow work/play, and death, my work aims to liberate Black beings by honoring our autonomy and creating a space in which communion with the ancestors can take place.

I believe in the liberatory potential of kink and BDSM for Black bodies. Through this practice, we are challenged to direct our attention to ourselves by dedicating time and space to cultivating new positive relationships with our bodies, the environment, our communication, and our relationships with others. Most BDSM spaces are white centric and cisheteronormative, leaving a lack of visibility for anyone who identifies outside of those two narrow scopes. We must continue to take up space and curate inclusive kink environments for ourselves.

My offering acts as a tool and a body of remembrance. I have included a “ yes/no/maybe” list that will help in your kink and boundary exploration. I feel that it is important to offer community and representation as well, so I have shared the work of a few incredible people I have connected with in the kink community. All of their individual practices display elements of what it means to remove Black subjugation from BDSM. I have also included aftercare elements that include mending and tending to the meatsuits we occupy. Our rest together is in the rootwork. 🌀"

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