Open AccessOne's Freedom is Another's Cage
Author(s) -
Towani Duchscher
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cultural and pedagogical inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1916-3460
DOI - 10.18733/cpi29544
Subject(s) - embodied cognition , phenomenon , space (punctuation) , public space , sociology , poetry , white (mutation) , aesthetics , media studies , gender studies , art , epistemology , literature , philosophy , engineering , linguistics , architectural engineering , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
This work challenges the ways that people, predominantly white men, use their bodies and voices to centre themselves in public spaces and identifies the reactions of others to centre the men as well. By paying attention to my somatic knowledge and embodied experiences, I developed a more intricate understanding of the concept of “colonizing the space.” Through poetry, I share lived experiences of this phenomenon in an effort to draw attention to how we engage with each other in our communities and public spaces. As importantly, I imagine and celebrate responses that do not cage or marginalize our voices and bodies but “claim the sky” (Angelou, 1983, p. 19) and sing.