Author: Michael Tino

I have been ruminating a lot about imagination and how it is part of liberation work. One of the most imaginative and creative books I read was Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals. Even the title of the book sparks imagination and wonder. Weaving lessons from whales and dolphins to the work of liberation centers love, joy and community care. I believe expanding our imaginations to what is possible is crucial for our very survival. -Aisha Hauser (CLF)

Where do you find inspiration for imagination in unusual places?

As an artist, I often prickle at the way imagination is talked about in our culture. It’s often framed as if, besides children, it’s only uniquely talented adults (artists, writers, etc.) who get to have imagination — as if it’s something that’s either inherent to you and easy to access, or that you don’t have it at all. While we all relate to imagination differently, I know that imaginative energy is something that I have to actively cultivate in my life, and that unless I’ve had space and time to tend to my body, mind, and spirit, I also can’t access my imagination easily. I believe that imagination and creativity is inherent to all of us, and it’s more often than not the cultural programming and material conditions of our lives that limit our ability to see it flourish. – Rose Gallogly (CLF)

How can you make time and space to cultivate imagination today?

“We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that society is huge and the individual is less than nothing. But the truth is individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different”-Neil Gaiman

How have you imagined something into reality?

“With another St. Patrick’s Day having come and gone, I ponder the calamities and the strengths of my heritage. To do other than persist would be to dishonor those who have gone before. Too many things matter for me to give up. Life is too precious for me to say die. If desperate action is likely to be required, then I must gird myself with stories of strength. Although I can barely see the further shore, I must hold fast to the conviction that we will get there; that love will not only survive, but thrive. Others have done it. So can I.”-Maureen Killoran

How do the stories of your heritage help you persist?

“We face a challenge to democracy:
a challenge that calls us to hope in moments of despair,
a challenge that asks us to persist in the faith
that we can and must make a difference.” -Pat Uribe-Lichty

How do you persist in the faith that you can make a difference?