Black women have long since operationalized the use of fiction as activist pedagogy. Through an analysis of Toni Cade Bambara’s, the Salt Eaters and Alice Walker’s Meridian, I show how both authors employ ritual, collective memory, and embodied practices drawn from Yoga philosophy as spiritual technologies for healing historical and ongoing trauma. Through two of the eight limbs of Yoga; Niyamas (ethical self-observances) and dharna (focused attention), these texts model forms of global citizenship rooted in empathy, ethical responsibility and collective care rather than nationalism. In the Salt Eaters, Chapter Three stages healing as a communal ritual that collapses temporal boundaries of memory and cultural healing practices. The heart of the chapter brings together diasporic voices engaged in collective political work symbolized by the polyvocal organizing scene that marks a shift away from Velma, the protagonists, interior healing. Rather, this scene reveals a world she has exhausted herself trying to sustain. While chaotic, the community thrives on difference, rejecting hierarchical leadership in favor of vocal overlap and shared focus, appearing on the page as a literary enactment of dharna. In contrast, Meridian emphasizes survival through radical empathy and disciplined withdraw. The protagonist, Meridian addresses harm within her community by practicing forgiveness as reparative act that recognizes shared humanity without absolving accountability. Across each text, love emerges as a womanist praxis rather than feeling. Together, these novels imagine education for peace as an embodied ethical practice requiring focused attention grounded in ritual, love, and commitment to collective healing.

Authors:
BreAnna Rice, University at Buffalo, United States

About the Presenter(s)
BreAnna works as an instructor of pilates, holding a 350 + hour certification and is a writing center consultant. She hopes to bridge her relationship with movement and healing into her dissertation studies.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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