We are sweaty bodies swaying a kind of resistance and joy together.

I am there for the monthly release that reminded me joy is medicine.

The line was long but worth it. The music was bumpin on both floors. The pulse of the night was vibrant.

The moment reminded me that we could hold grief, rage, joy, and laughter. That we could see another day after sweating and exhausting our bodies in euphoria. That music, people, and nights could be a source of power. It showed me that moving the stagnancy in joyful letting go was necessary. It made a difference to be doing this with people I had marched or learned with too.

I really could have chosen a few other moments. But this one has stayed precious with me over the years. I fell in love here in so many ways. Dancing is and has been a healing space for me and to do it with people in Chicago that could also hold multiplicity despite the atrocities was meaningful. Life is hard. It still is. But when I dance with others to music something in me also shifts and is made possible somehow.