Category Archives: The Warp & Weft

The ongoing Black Lives Matter uprising has helped further my recognition of the depth of structural racism and bigotry here in Rochester and across the country.

February 2021 marks 1 year since we last went to the movies. Remember going to the movies – that act of coming together as an audience, a short-term congregation of community, to share the experience of spectatorship for a couple of hours. On this one year anniversary, I am reflecting back on that experience, trying to retrieve what we have taken with us, as well as left behind us, on our last night so far at the movie theater.

آج میں آپ لوگوں کے ساتھ اپنی زندگی کا ایک ایسا ایکسپرینس شیئر کرنے جارہی ہوں جو مجھے لگتا ہے کہ شاید کہیں نہ کہیں شیئر کرنے لائق ہے. میری پیدائش دہلی کی ہے اور میری پرورش علی گڑھ میں ہوئی. علی گڑھ مسلم یونیورسٹی میں میرے ابا پروفیسر تھے. تو جب ہم لوگوں کی پرورش ہورہی تھی تو ہم لوگوں کو یہی سکھایا جاتا تھا کہ آپ کی زندگی کا سب سے بڑا مقصد بہترین پڑھائی اور اس کے بعد بہترین کھانا

[My Story In My Own Words by Fabeha Fazal: I would like to share some life experiences with you that might be worth sharing. I was born in Delhi and grew up in Aligarh. My dad was a professor at Aligarh Muslim University…]

The stories I chose as inspiration for the movement phrase in this piece are ‘It’s About The Touch’ by Roberta Schwartz and ‘Touch,’ a response to the archive by Kirin Makker. I identified with what Schwartz and Makker wrote about the fundamental nature of human touch.

What I miss most during the pandemic is the ability to reach out and fearlessly, lovingly touch others. My youngest son David recently celebrated his 29th birthday. My husband and I spent two days preparing his favorite foods, ones which he associates with comfort, tradition and warmth.

Chota Bhai, my baby brother
His skin is four shades – possibly seven – darker than mine.

In the beforetimes, I took a risk. Social isolation is not something that is new to me as a disabled person. When I think back on the course of my life, the majority of it has been spent in isolation. This isolation is due to no fault of my own, it is just a function of ableism in this country.

The Warp and Weft contributing writer Roberta Schwartz writes, “What I miss most during the pandemic is the ability to reach out and fearlessly, lovingly touch others…the sense of wellbeing that touch provides.” When I read this, I thought of Cadence and how much I miss not only being in her physical company, but the way that she engages with a friend, the space she gives in our interaction for a fearless loving hand on my shoulder, or a hand moving across my upper back as we hug.

L’année 2020, qui se termine tout doucement, nous a amené son lot de surprises, bonnes et mauvaises. L’apparition du coronavirus nous a confronté à la maladie, au danger et à la mort. 

[Coronavirus, the epidemic at our doorstep by Pascale Lorette: The year 2020, which is slowly coming to an end, has brought us its share of surprises, both good and bad…]

I have been a commuter for my entire working life. That’s 32 years of trains, subway trains and buses getting me to my job in the city. For 27 years that city was London, England, and now since 2016, it is Toronto, Canada.

My keen interest in the performing arts, as a tool for social development in The Gambia, has motivated me to pursue training in the arts. Since 2011, I have received intensive training in acting, speech and voice production, singing, stage management and scriptwriting. I have discovered that the arts are a much more effective means of communicating with people, especially when working with children and youths. 

his eyes are fixed
on battles visible and invisible–
a boy Janus whose gates never close,
living in a prison where the gates never open.