Breath and Death Archives

Introducing AGITATE! Volume 4 Breath and Death: COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and Virality

The AGITATE! Editorial Collective

The editorial introduction for Volume 4: Breath and Death

Khalamuni

Efadul Huq

This poem is an act of mourning, remembering, and grieving a loved one taken by the pandemic.

The title of this piece translates to—Humanity in Lockdown. It documents the plight of migrant workers who fled Indian cities en masse, the deepening religious divide, and intensifying poverty in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and the nation-wide lockdown that was instituted in April 2020.

The Passage

Marijana Hameršak and Selma Banich

This work of Selma Banich & Marijana Hameršak that emerged in collaboration with the Women to Women Collective is a collection of portraits of migrants who lost their lives on the perilous journeys in the Balkans.

Remembering, Honoring and Grieving Migrant Deaths: Unsettling the Politics of Grave Silence

Emina Bužinkić

Emina Bužinkić I write these lines to remember, record and grieve fallen migrants who fiercely fought against the relentless border regimes in the Balkans and wider European geographies. Pushed into despair and ultimately robbed of breath, thousands of migrants attempt to cross the perilous terrains of the Balkans only to meet police batons, electric shocks,…

This is Not an Eggplant

Katayoun Amjadi

Katayoun Amjadi’s multimedia installations and visual poems, This is Not an Eggplant and Diaries of a Village Potter, question the “collective” and meditates on the course of political and environmental shifts.

Inventing a Bahujan Grammar: In Memory of Abhay Xaxa

Vishal Jamkar

This piece remembers Adivasi scholar and organizer Abhay Xaxa through a deep engagement with his writing and activism.

Basic Demographic Questions

Suzanne Chew

Suzanne Chew’s poem grapples with the question of a “good interview” and the extractive nature of traditional academic research.

Autopsy and State Violence: Implications in the Death Investigation of George Floyd

Deondre Smiles

This essay examines the circumstances surrounding the death investigation of George Floyd, tying it into larger discussions surrounding the role of law enforcement and state structures in death investigations and autopsies. Drawing upon indigenous studies research, the piece looks at the undue influence upon coroners and medical examiners in cases of death by police brutality that do not put law enforcement in legal jeopardy.

The Thermal Body Signature of a Second Class Citizen, Choking on His Own Saliva

Pedram Badari

Pedram Baldari’s performative art piece challenges the narratives of nationalism/s. It stitches memories from his life in Iran with present life in the United States, both of which relegate him to second-class citizen status.

Healthy Living

Jordan Starck

This set of companion poems agitates the dominant narratives that, for marginalized peoples, silent compliance will best secure their safety and wellbeing.

Confluenc(ing) Race and Place: AfroRuralFuturism as a Framework for Reading Solidarity

Sean Golden and Nick Kleese

Sean Golden and Nick Kleese argue for a rethinking of place and race beyond social constructs as confluenced spaces where we are invited to reimagine solidarities amongst marginalized people. They propose an open syllabus to pave the path for the framework of AfroRuralFuturism.

Imagining Transnational Solidarities: Speaking Across Divides

Imagining Transnational Solidarities Research Circle

Imagining Transnational Solidarities: Speaking Across Divides is a series of webinars that centered transnational feminist, Black, indigenous, migrant voices speaking to the contestations and possibilities emerging for social movements, art-making and political shifts in the midst of multiple crises.

Breath And