adrienne maree brown: Pleasure Activism

Credit: American Civil Liberties Union

In adrienne maree brown’s Pleasure Activism she asks readers to imagine a politic centered on pleasure to combat oppressive systems. This includes looking at pleasure as a “natural, safe” part of life and as a tool for finding abundance in a scarcity-driven society. amb defines pleasure as human need, a feeling of  “happy satisfaction and enjoyment,” and activism as “efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society.”

“I have seen, over and over, the connection between tuning into what brings aliveness into our systems and being able to access personal, relational and communal power. Conversely, I have seen how denying our full, complex selves–denying our aliveness and our needs as living, sensual beings–increases the chance that we will be at odds with ourselves, our loved ones, our coworkers, and our neighbors on this planet.” (6)

“Ultimately, pleasure activism is us learning to make justice and liberation the most pleasurable experiences we can have on this planet.” (13)

Pleasure Activism: https://www.akpress.org/pleasure-activism.html