What Is Self-Care?
Self-preservation. Political warfare, not just face masks and bubble baths.
Self-Care Today
In our current state, the "grindset" culture dominates and exhaustion is applauded.
So when we think of self-care, our minds likely go to an extensive 27-step skincare routine or a spa day. While these things are nice, they aren't true self-care.
Clouded by capitalism, whiteness and the commodification of wellness, self-care has lost its radical intentions.
Further, these superficial approaches to healing force the onus on the marginalized. They fail to recognize the current system that we operate in doesn't allow everyone to just "take a break."
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Self-Care and Race
Self-care is a strategy (and as Lorde said a political one) to save energy and ensure personal resilience against the systemic racism of our governments and institutions.
For racialized folk, complex dynamics of institutional and interpersonal racism for BIPOC are compounded when they interact with other socio-economic factors, like:
Class
Sexuality
Gender
Income
Education
These factors affect our ability to make healthy choices and manage stress and when they intersect, people are at increased risk of trauma.
This means self-care is a necessity, not a luxury.
The increased risk of trauma for BIPOC folk can lead to a non-stop survival mode (AKA always being in the fight or flight mode).
Therefore, dedicating time to self-care when living in survival mode might feel quite unattainable, or even selfish when there seem to be so many bad things going on.
That's why it's so important for QTBIPOC folk to understand that self-care isn't selfish or diverting: it is political warfare. Self-care involves nurturing the collective in a sustainable and productive manner.
“Although self-care has never ensured an escape, this does not mean that all acts of self-care should be so short-sighted and diluted to a point of frivolousness.
The realities of racism cannot be outrun, out-bought, or pampered away, only lived with, yet simultaneously resisted.”
The Need For Systematic Change
This current wave of self-care, one that focuses far too much on spending, fails us in a few ways.
It doesn't address the persistence of a system (think anti-Black racism, different socioeconomic realities and other forms of marginalization) that is still violently set against them.
"Taking a break" for months on end isn't feasible. It's expensive.
The concept of self-care is essentially useless if we don't address how this appropriated, capitalist version.
Self-Care for the Community
Spa days are great and all, but standing up for yourself and taking care of yourself when the world is systematically against you is true self-care.
Self-care must ultimately coincide with community care.
Lorde focused on the community to ensure that those most vulnerable—like people with multiple socio-eoconmic factors that put them at risk for trauma- do not get left behind. Only focusing on a type of self-care that benefits oneself is not “act of political warfare”. We need to ensure that communities can do to offset the harm done by governments and institution...
That is no little feat, which is why self-care is needed.
Take AWAY + Action
Self-care can look and be many different things. For BIPOC it is not self-indulgent, it is necessary.
Remember, revolution is not possible without rest.
Check out Audre Lorde's 1988 A Burst of Light: and Other Essays which explores her lesbianism, her identity as a black woman, her reflections on cancer and international struggles against oppressive and racist regimes. In “A Burst of Light: Living With Cancer”, Lorde discusses self-care as a political act, one necessary for survival.
