“Why EarthDance makes sense right now in a world turned upside down and inside out”- By Accem Scott I grew up with movement everywhere outside myself! The civil rights movement, women’s rights, Children’s rights, etc. My father was a military man, my mother an artist. They combined unlikely forces to provide for myself and my siblings. We were Muslims, Black Muslims, as we were called. In my community we were the same, but different, from other African Americans. I learned that in regards to racism a person might be rude, racist or ridiculous, and sometimes all three. “Don’t just think racism first”, as my grandmom would say.
Leaving my home in Philadelphia for travel across many oceans and seas far from where I grew up, I was to find that racism seemed to be the first choice for most when human dysfunctions occurred between groups of various races. “Projections always begets more projections”, I was told. Because I found no need to blame the, so-called, “All Mighty”, white man for my challenges in life I received very little counter projections from those I worked with, had business with, etc. Martial arts was my way of getting in touch with those things arising from, the deep, that sought to bind me. I could, fight to free myself, I could, “Walk the Circle”, Bang The Bones and finally I was free. If we are led through our path in life by some, “Invisible Hand” then that hand slowly and methodically led me to EarthDance and an advanced course in letting go called, “Contact Improvisation.” Three communities throughout the U.S. have changed my belief in what is possible via community living: Stone Soup in Chicago, The Farm, in TN and EarthDance here in MA. What EarthDance shares is not only much needed activism, caring and sharing but the, JAM. Through this conscious/unconscious, formless/form we experience touch, feeling acknowledgement and awareness at a deeper level. Challenges of the past become a guide to be moved through rather than avoided at all costs. This guide is a path, a road which is free of prejudice, pain and lost promises. Thank you EarthDance for maintaining a vision of a future full of honest human “Contact”.
Check out Accem’s book “American Barefoot Doctor’s Manual” or this video on his early training and influences for more of his story.
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