"Peek-a-Zai" @sistazai - Tumblr Blog

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Rise and shine, beautiful souls! It’s eclipse season and the learnings are rich. So much gratitude for this life with all its magnificent valleys and peaks. What I know for sure is that I have to write the story that I want to read. So, I write for and to my sixteen year old version, who craved visions of the world as that precious version of me experienced the world. I’m not here to tell anybody what to do or how to think. I’m here to share and to be heard. And you may not be tapped into the frequency to really hear me … and that’s okay but I won’t be reduced by any limiting or limited interpretation. The complexity and nuance of my story is wondrous. It circles back and spirals, layers upon layers upon layers of co-existing truths. What an honour to devote my craft to writing this world on my own terms, in my own voice … Just a gentle reminder that @eyeofthesista, Life Seen Through A Sista’s Eye podcast relaunched on 30.04.2023. New episodes weekly, featuring the beautiful souls whose experiences and work in the world serve as mirrors so I can see and know myself for myself much more clearly amidst the fu^*sh** Podcast streaming on Apple and Spotify. Coming to more platforms soon soon. www.anchor.fm/sistazai https://www.instagram.com/p/Cryrt98hTB5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

“If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies of me and eaten alive.” Audre Lorde . . This quote pretty much summarises why I do what I do. I’ll explain more in full on @eyeofthesista, Life Seen Through A Sista’s Eye podcast. The relaunch is 🔥 cannot wait to introduce you to more guests who joined me on my inner world journey as I got curious about the meaning of success and what it means to be African in the 21st century. Podcast streaming on Apple and Spotify. Coming to everywhere and YouTube soon soon. . . . Hi, I’m Sista Zai, an Afrofuturistic Storyteller. Without bypassing the fu*^sh*^, I love to write and tell stories about futures where we all thrive. Consent to receive my monthly Love Letters To Life and I’ll send you a monthly update with all my latest podcasts, a love note to life and a moon dance mixtape. ✨link in bio ✨@sistazai https://www.instagram.com/p/CrvsknfBnlY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

“Be good”, “be nice”, “be easy going” … is not how it works. Radical honesty is the foundation of true transformation and genuine love. The truth is an expensive gift, don’t expect it from cheap people. 👁️ My friends know my honest thoughts. I never reserve one conversation for Black company or women and another conversation for everyone else. The ones who can listen and still love me fiercely as they commit to do their work so we can both show up in our relationship as a loving as possible, that’s where the platonic love continues to grow sweet and thick. I’m a lover, never a fighter: don’t let fragility get me twisted in the reactionary imagination as “bitter”, “angry”, “aggressive”. That’s the supremacy talking. What I know for a fact is this. I’m love. I’m gentle. I’m vibrant soul. I’m fierce defender of justice and reciprocity. My kitchen is not for every soul. My banquet is reserved for those who choose to step up and level up. That’s why life over here so sweet, full of that thick love. Create a beautiful day, my Loves! . . Hi, my name is Sista Zai and I’m an Afrofuturistic Storyteller. Without bypassing the fu^*sh^*, I love to write and share stories about futures where we all thrive. My podcast, @eyeofthesista, Life Seen Through A Sista’s Eye is back and streaming everywhere you love to listen to podcasts. www.anchor.fm/sistazai . . . Slide shared from @rowhousepub 🔥 https://www.instagram.com/p/CrtrYO0hkpn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Podcast to the world! If you’d love to hear the full reasoning and most of the songs in full, this one is for you. . . . Thank you for hosting this sound (he)artwork @sonicmatterplatform🙌🏾 . . . Posted @withregram • @sonicmatterplatform «Movement is tradition, an old time tradition. It existed before the lines. It’s what made the lines … meet me at the Stillpoint.» – Randy Valentine On tomorrow’s RADIOPHONIC MONDAYS, Randy Valentine and Sista Zai explore what happens when we choose to create from the Stillpoint, beyond the imposed lines and their confinement of time (history) and space (nationality). Tune in tomorrow May 1, 00:00-23:59 CET at https://sonicmatter.ch/radio/on-air photo: Randy Valentine. @sistazai @randyvalentineofficial https://www.instagram.com/p/Crq_Avwhczv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Today is the day!! I published the podcast just after midnight, Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Season One, Take Two is officially LIVE. Fresh episodes dropping weekly. So what now? Well … ✨ Got questions about anything you heard in the podcast? You can catch me on IG Live. No set times, yet. I’m feeling it out, in divine time 👁️ ✨ If you tap on the bell icon on the top right hand side of my IG account, you can opt-in for notifications about when I go live. ✨ If you really have a burning question about anything I said on the podcast, please use the contact form from the link in my bio. I’ll either address it in the IG lives or we can book you in for a paid private consultation. ✨ When you consent to receive my monthly newsletter, Love Letters To Life, I’ll send you a link with all the latest episodes along with a monthly love note (which includes a playlist). ✨ If the vibes are aligned, please be sure to follow @the.script.flip, which launches in June 2023. That’s where I’ll host group and one:one coaching for everyone who is ready to flip the script on their inherited narratives. Let’s imagine new futures where we all thrive. More on that in June. I’m so excited to relaunch and connect with you all in this reciprocal way, an embodiment of huhnu. I am so greatful for my anti-capitalist business thought partner circle convened by @toimarie, with @unconventionalagency and @altheais. Much love to everyone in @business.for.the.people for three years of collective support and growth. Shout out to @kelly.diels for amazing feminist business guidance and coaching. No person is an island. No person stands alone. There are many many more to thank and I have not forgotten you. There just is not enough space and I need the right context. Last but not least, shout out to my ancestors and to my family … despite Babylon, we are still here (as @randyvalentineofficial says in this episode of @eyeofthesista podcast). https://www.instagram.com/p/Cro6ZStBbE4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Hair’s mostly locked. And your fresh new @eyeofthesista podcast just dropped. In take two of season one, I’m introducing you all to the folks who were my thought partners as I got curious about the definition of “success” and how that ties in with what it means to be African in the 21st century. Listen, I’m on a new podcast distribution platform so bear with me if there are any glitches. www.anchor.fm/sistazai I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it. There’s poetry, song, story and super interesting chats. I’ll catch you later today. Bedtime. It’s after midnight. Peace, friends . . . Oh, I almost forgot! My dreadlocks are pretty much all formed. I’m feeling this length, too. . . 💚✨✌🏾 https://www.instagram.com/p/CroBjLwBJn4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Just a gentle reminder, @eyeofthesista podcast relaunches tomorrow (Australian time … out here in the future), Sunday 30 April. Shout out to everyone who has already subscribed and is following the podcast. It’s available wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Another massive thank you for flowing with the tempo of this counter-cultural and in divine time process. With that in mind, I’d love to share these anti-capitalist affirmations. I’ll catch you on the podcast in poetry, song, soundscape and chats with guests about the meaning of success and how that ties in with what it means to be “African” in the 21st century. . . PS get your pens, paper, notebooks/journals ready … it’s Storytime! Let’s get curious about our inner worlds. . . . Posted @withregram • @thebodyisnotanapology 🗣❤️‍🔥 Posted @withregram • @another.hidden.society • • ID: A black background with white text that reads “anti-capitalist affirmations:” “i am allowed to spend time creating things, even if they are not beautiful. there is no such thing as a real job. all forms of work are real and valid. there is nothing that i need to accomplish to be worthy. i am already worthy. doing nothing is good for my soul. i am not defined by what i produce. my worth cannot be measured by my paycheck, my job title, or a list of professional or academic achievements. i do not need to monetize my hobbies, it is good enough to spend time doing something that i love. i will not let society decide what success looks like. i can decide what a successful life looks like to me.” • • #TBINAA #TheBodyIsNotAnApology https://www.instagram.com/p/Crls6Tvhyrn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#tbinaa #thebodyisnotanapology

May I invite you to join me in about two hours on community radio for your Thursday reggae fix. This one’s for the lovers 💚 ✨ 3cr.org.au 💓 855AM Radio on demand, any day, any time? 🌺 3cr.org.au/inityriddims https://www.instagram.com/p/CriPoPOLX_h/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Literally 💁🏾‍♀️✌🏾@chani.app https://www.instagram.com/p/CrfYJGPLsi4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Brrrrr … bit icy but necessary. Keeps the heart as light as a feather. 🪶 (at Boon Wurrung Country) https://www.instagram.com/p/CrfSgq6reo8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Today we had a class on archives. Went to the library and learned some things, touched some things and smelled some things from special collections. This caught my eye. #PhDlyf #PhDStudent https://www.instagram.com/p/CrfGBgSLtoh/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#phdlyf #phdstudent

I’ve shared my grandparents’ vision. Each generation has its own unique struggle. So … What is MY definition of “success”, though? I have an answer but first the backstory because it’s been a journey of self-exploration. A whole heap of inner work and getting real with myself. . . . In 2019, I headed to Johannesburg and Cape Town. I had successfully applied for a literary travel fund. The purpose of my trip was to be in the cities my grandad had worked in. This photo was taken in Johannesburg at The Carlton Centre, where photos document Joburg’s establishment as “the city of gold” or the city built on top of the gold mine. The exhibited photos depict well-off families (Black and white) and miners. The descriptions brought home the scale of the operation - of how colonialism and capitalism intersect; and how Black bodies were used to extract from the Earth. At this point, I was beginning to really think of The Earth as our precolonial ancestors did. The Earth a being whom our own grandparents would have revered through ritual and ceremony and recognised as a loving and living protector who needs our protection. Listen. Let’s just say my definition of success has definitely been shifting as I begin to fully appreciate what it means to extract from the Earth and to exploit Black bodies in the process. I’ll talk about this awareness more in my podcast “Life Seen Through A Sista’s Eye”. I’m excited for the relaunch. I’m glad I took the break to sit in circles with siblings and collectives of folks who are also redefining their relationship to capitalism and the Earth. I’m excited to introduce you to the folks I interviewed/reasoned with for the podcast. Folks whose own stories have supported me in my process of self-reflection and redefinition of the meaning of success and what it means to be African in the 21st century. Save the date: 30 April 2023 and subscribe to the podcast where you most love to listen to podcasts. 📸 Anita Muzorewa https://www.instagram.com/p/Crb5u8cB20p/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Nobody Is “Self Made” Get comfy. It’s Storytime. About 100 years ago, Grandpa worked for slave wages on a plantation. He wanted more for his children. So he asked for a raise to pay for his children’s education. At this time, he only had daughters. The coloniser labelled Grandpa a troublemaker, kicked him off the plantation onto the reservation. Yes, Southern Africa has reservations … a colonial inheritance via USA and Australia. It’s how British colonisers managed and controlled their “native” population so that they could steal, extract from the land and exploit the people to do so … you know … capitalism. Long story, but Grandpa eventually ended up working in South Africa, in the mines. Folks prefer the story that he worked as a cook for a well-off family or colonial officers in Cape Town. It makes sense: he was an exceptional bread maker, I heard. He died before I was born, from a chronic illness common amongst mine labourers who worked 16 hour shifts below ground and then lived most of the year in squalid bachelor hostels eating the slop the mining companies provided their slave wage labourers. Again, extraction … exploitation … capitalism. Meanwhile, my grandmother, like most Black women in Southern Africa was legally confined to live and stay on the reservation. Eventually, her and my grandfather made a plan to buy a farm on a ninety-nine year lease (colonisers really are full of shit). That farm became our family village; a stable base from where all my aunts and uncles lived comfortably and went on to become professionals: teachers, business owners, nurses, doctor, dentist, banker … This all happened during a time when the official colonial policy was to keep Black folks impoverished, uneducated and servants to a supremacist settler minority. Despite all that, my grandparents, with a grade three level of education, got their children out. Every time I set foot on campus with all of these degrees and book learning, I’m deeply humbled and aware that there is no such thing as “self-made”. The land, my family, my ancestors have and continue to pour into me. I come as one but I stand before you as ten thousand. Onward. Sista Zai, Poet https://www.instagram.com/p/CrWnojnhOyM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

When I say “anti-capitalist”, people assume I mean I’m willing to work for free or to live in poverty as a “badge of honour”. I most certainly am not aiming to make myself a bigger target under these anti-Black systems that hate impoverished people. Thank you for paying me well for my beautiful labour in the world. When I call out capitalism and mention Bougie stuff, some Black folks think I’m calling them out for having material wealth, nice things or a life of ease, pleasure and leisure. I most certainly am not. We all deserve to thrive. I think it’s vital that Black folks get super clear about our responsibility and role when it comes to this system called “capitalism”. May I offer a suggestion? Perhaps we really need to ensure that we are absolutely financially well in every possible way because without financial wellness, these systems will simply chew us up and spit us out because that’s how the architects designed and built it to work. Anti-Blackness is not cute. That Black Tax is literally that - money and resources Black folk need to have in order to avoid potentially fatal situations. Money often means access to more responsive healthcare in a world where medical racism is normalised or access to great lawyers in a world where the Black body is excessively watched, bullied and criminalised … get the resources and stay resourced. Here’s the thing: when most Black folks talk about their Bougie dreams and aspirations, they aren’t dreaming of hoarding resources for themselves alone or merely for the sake of hoarding. They are usually talking about uplifting a family and an entire community. That’s a key and critical difference in what motivates aspirational behaviour amongst many Black folks. It’s not predatory. It’s not exploitative. It’s not extractive. That’s capitalism. It is the creation of wealth and well-being to ensure the safety and security of a group of people whom capitalism preys upon, exploits and extracts from with impunity. I’ll unpack more of this in poetry, story, sound scape and journaling prompts on @eyeofthesista, podcast, streaming where you listen to podcasts. Create a beautiful day, my Loves. https://www.instagram.com/p/CrUVim2h5-G/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I love my friends! 🤣🤣🤣 #BlackBougieAndQuestioningCapitalism https://www.instagram.com/p/CrR6fjQSbsH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#blackbougieandquestioningcapitalism

Tonight. Reggae on Melbourne/Naarm’s 3CR Community Radio. . . Tune in ✨ 3CR.org.au 📻 855 AM Radio on demand? ✌🏾3CR.org.au/inityriddims https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQCIO2SpWJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Hey, my Loves! How are you travelling? Here, in my little bubble, it’s a bit full on right now. Current events aside (and that’s giving hectic as it is), we’re also in eclipse season and about to head into Mercury retrograde. As I allow myself to feel the feelings without judgement, I’m also doing my best to look after the basics: adequate sleep, hydration, quality time with my beloveds and lots of deep breathing and stretching. I’m particularly leaning into yoga for race-based and ethnic based stress. What about you? What are your wellness tips for navigating the world while Black? . . So, life under WS c@pitalist patriarchy also goes on (Black Tax is some f&cksh*+). I hope you’re all doing alright with your deadlines etc. I’m still on track, mostly. Also doing my best under the circumstances and not pushing hard for perfection. That tends to be a trauma response to race-based stress … I’m learning. I’m still really looking forward to relaunching my podcast on Sunday 30 April. A little concerned that it’ll coincide with a Mercury Retrograde but I’ll have to put lots of tech precautions in place and take it easy/go with the flow if I face a few challenges. That’s just a heads up to go easy on me, too. Thank you for your love and patience. Listen, what I’m really saying with all of this is this: for folks shoved to the margins by oppressive systems, what we’re feeling and how we’re responding isn’t always about us, it’s not us having a personal flaw that needs fixing. It’s about the systems we’re forced to live in and under causing us to feel and behave in ways … the systems need fixing. Please be super gentle with yourself. Sending lots of love. . . And check out the second slide for a list of things to look out for during these times 💚💚💚 Posted @withregram • @blackmindsmatter.uk Race-related stress can show up in a number of ways on your mind and body and you may be unaware of many of them 🧠⁠ ⁠ It may be hard to pinpoint the exact cause of your stress, but if you are someone who is likely to experience racism in your day to day life, these are some of the signs to look out for 🖤 https://www.instagram.com/p/CrNbxQTLttq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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