“Cultivating Our Own Inherent Erotic Power Is Part Of A Larger, Radical Framework For Dismantling Oppression”
I was given the name Mkali Hashiki by a Priest of Oshun in the Ifa tradition (I added the hyphen & apostrophe to help with pronounciation). It means “fierce passion” in Swahili. I believe that we are all entitled to have passion in our lives, and to understand how being connected to our passion & creativity enhances our lives & the lives of those around us. It is my fierce passion for a happy, healthy, world that motivates everything I do.
I have a complex sexuality & sexual history. I have personal experience with polyamory, nonmonogamy, BDSM, and achieving mystical states during sex. I am—and have always been—a “sexual outlaw”, as well as being a “triple minority” (Black, female, and queer); this has allowed me to view society's standards on sexuality with a critical eye. As a Scorpio, I have always been curious and intrigued by sexuality, and feel that my erotic sense is the most calibrated of all my senses, and is the filter through which I experience the world.
I am a Trauma Survivor currently addressing 30 plus years of undiagnosed & untreated PTSD. I understand the ways in which our triggers hide from us, popping up when we least expect it; the ways trauma can influence even the most mundane actions in our day-to-day lives; the ways minor triggers substitute for the major ones. While my traumatic incident was not sexual trauma, it still had an impact on my erotic growth & sexual development.
I have been deeply influenced personally, professionally, and politically by Audre Lorde’s essay “The Uses Of The Erotic: The Erotic As Power” (if you haven’t read it, you need to!). I believe her point that in order to maintain itself, oppression requires the repression of the erotic. Because of my politics, spirituality, and lived experiences—which inform all aspects of my work—because of the lies we are constantly told about what sex should be, about what is normal and acceptable; and because of the sexual truths that are vilified; I view my work in FiercePassions as a form of political rebellion.