Happy New Year!!!
I can’t believe it’s nearly been three years since my last official blog post!
(So much for maintaining consistency)
I’ve been meaning to make an update post around October/November as a way to celebrate my new domain (zadavis.com) and my acceptance to INKspire’s Fellowship Program!
Instead, I was swept up in postgraduate shenanigans–between moving, (quietly) updating my blog’s appearance, and rushing to meet deadlines, I didn’t have time to sit down and write out a thoughtful post.
More importantly, I didn’t know what to write.
But after reviewing my recently published work, I finally have a topic!
Once, before the many times, I knew of an unstable force more violent than languid.
~ Z. A. Davis
My first piece published by INKspire is These Elements, My Prison, a short story covering various narratives in Black History–some tragic whilst others were significant. I connected each narrative with the elements, having the main character, a “spirit” known as The Aether, attempt to recall who they were through them.
It was a passion project I’ve been drafting since late 2022 when I was trying to contribute to my previous writing group’s yearly anthology.
I’ve always been big on Black History, something my father fostered in me at an early age when he introduced me to the heavy hitters such as Angela Davis, Walter Rodney, and Malcom X.
Of course, my curiosity never waned, and throughout my undergraduate career, I’ve been exploring the history of the diaspora beyond the U.S. These Elements was written as an homage to Black history across the globe.
So yeah. It was pretty much a straightforward story, with popular narratives in Black History.
OR SO I THOUGHT.
No writer is perfect.
(Which is why we need critiques to help steer us along!)
And one of my main self-criticisms with this piece is how fast paced it is. A whopping 1700~ words. Which puts the “short” in “short fiction”.
Rereading it now, I definitely could’ve spent more time building the settings for each “Element” so as to make it more obvious the historical event I am alluding to.
But with the time crunch, and the fact that I was moving and writing at the same time, I had to do the unthinkable…
I requested for TWO WHOLE EXTENSIONS.
And thus my 1700-word Fellowship Fiction was born. The first of my published work that I’m truly proud of.
You can tell because it’s the only one featured in my Works section.
(For now…)
Any who, I wanted to take the time to share some context of each “Element” mentioned in the These Elements, My Prison.
Some of the history may be familiar to you.
Others, completely new.
The Haitian Revolution (Earth)
I knew from the very beginning that the Haitian Revolution would make its appearance in this piece. And what better way to nod at such a pivotal moment in Black (and abolitionist!) history than to connect with the Earth element?
The prominence of Earth in Black liberation reflects not only a physical conflict but a spiritual one as well, which inspired me to focus on the gathering of les noirs beneath the cover of a storm.
Currently vodoun is suffused into Haitian culture. And this practice, inspired by West African spirituality, was heavily suppressed by colonial and Catholic laws. It was said that a vodoun ritual was performed moments before the rebellion spread throughout the island of Haiti.
Boukman and Cecile, the main characters mentioned in this part, are real historical figures, and both were essential to Haitian spirituality and the revolution itself.
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (Fire)
This was the hardest to write due to both the horrid assault on these four girls, and the limits of how violence can be perpetrated on the INKspire platform (we cater to an audience in their late teens-early twenties).
Fortunately, I didn’t cross any hard limits during my first round of feedback because I honestly wouldn’t know what to do if I had to either remove this section or censor it some more.
But, in the end, no words can properly express the terror many Black Americans had to face in the United States.
In times long after the fall of subjugation, but a year before my dignity was codified, I knew of a spark which ignited flames throughout the cities of a nation. People poured into the streets, linking arms as they gathered around the capitol. These fires burned through a pool, reflecting as far as a monument’s zenith. And with an explosion, the crowd was ablaze as a man told them of his dream.
I knew of this spark. But this spark was not me.
Zipporah Davis | These Elements, My Prison
In 1963, four little girls, Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11) were brutally murdered during a domestic terrorist attack a Burmingham, Alabama Baptist Church.
A bomb had been planted in the basement by white supremacists and set to go off around 10:24am following a warning call. At the time of the explosion, these four girls were in the basement–assumably practicing for choir–and around 200 other churchgoers in attendance. Around 20 were injured, and one child permanently lost her eye.
The Alabama church bombing wasn’t the only occurrence I thought of when writing the Fire element. So many atrocities had happened to black folks involving fires, whether it be setting ablaze lynching victims or massacres that ended in the carpet bombing of entire towns.
But in the end, I had to settle with one story.
Palmares (Air)
Ahhh Palmares. The main reason why I took a course in Brazilian History.
I don’t remember exactly when I grew fascinated with maroon colonies, but the more and more I studied history, the more and more I came across instances of escaped slaves forming small societies hidden in mountains or even swamps.
It would have made sense for Palmares to be the Earth element in this story. But given the fact that Palmares was hidden in the mountains, and the escaped slaves were skilled in capoeira, a martial arts practice that is VERY acrobatic, I felt that the Air element would suit Palmares just fine.
And it did! My only issue was that I wrote this section last and nearing the end of my extension. Had there been more time, I would have emphasized the nature of the society, the martial arts practiced, and even follow the character on a particular raid. She would have definitely been Dandara.
Zong Massacre (Water)
Splitting this element in two parts wasn’t my initial intention. But I wanted to further characterize the confusion that plagued the main character’s mind. As they struggle to remember who they were, we eventually return to the beginning of it all.
I knew from the beginning that Water would be conveyed through the atrocities many enslaved people experienced in the Atlantic. But I needed an occurrence to latch onto rather than drawing from the abstract. This is where the Zong Massacre came in.
In 1781 over 100 slaves were jettisoned by Zong crew members in a desperate attempt to conserve water. In 1783, a trial was held ruling that the Zong crew was entitled to compensation from their insurance due to “loss of cargo”. This outcome roused the already-stirring abolition movement in Britain, giving way to figures such as Olaudah Equiano who pushed to have the Zong crew tried for murder.
His attempts were unsuccessful, but the court decision was eventually overruled. Not because the British court suddenly saw the humanity in the overthrown slaves, but because new evidence proved that the actions of the Zong crew was intentional.
Of course, These Elements barely scratched the surface of Black History. Nonetheless, I’m proud of what was explored, and looking forward to more opportunities to continue uncovering Black history, whether it be through fiction, articles, or even essays.
But here’s to another year! Ushering in consistency and excitement for all!
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