By Nessette Falu
Seeding Reproductive Justice with Art
In June 2018, when I was on a research trip in Salvador, Brazil, I met up for lunch with my dear friend Ani Ganzala, an amazing Black Brazilian queer artist. Ani brought to the restaurant two of her new artworks for me to peruse. One portrayed two Yoruba deities, Oshun and Iansã / Oyá holding hands. The second (Figure 1) portrayed a Black birthing body with legs wide open, streaming tears of joy and pain. 1 I was drawn to both, but the artwork depicted in the second hit me at the pit of my stomach in a strange way. My gaze upon it felt uneasy. I was uncomfortable with the explicitness of the painting, but I refused to walk away from its breathtaking beauty. I embraced the discomfort and bought it. To me, the beauty and rawness in the art piece loudly communicated Black life beyond the limits of reproductive matters. Its roar was loud. I loved it dearly.
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