Written October 2, 2023
It’s the second day of October. I’m in my overgrown garden, present with the air and gazing upon the plants yet to be harvested. My physical energy, at this time, doesn’t allow me to work my body in the abundance of greens, some of them decaying into yellow, some already surrendered to the browns. My cat, Mozeet, rests and loafs on my sandals as I sit atop a tree stump that has always found me comfort and grounding. As I sit, a thought strikes me, yet it’s not a new one. It’s the same thought that’s struck me plenty of times over the summer recently passed and in the season-changing weeks leading up to the beginning of Hoodoo Heritage Month: The Matrix isn’t meant to be my primary residence.
The thought nestles softly in my brain on an introspective autumn morning as I commune with the spirits on the land I’m learning to steward. As I gather my belongings and motion Mozeet to follow me inside, I already know the earth on which my feet are walking, the breeze flying above my head, the rest I feel in my body, all of these blessings were not sent from the Matrix. No, none of them are man-made, always been here, longer than any of us have existed in this realm. And when I go back inside, I know I still won’t be in the Matrix. In fact, the moment when I have to prepare to be in the world by putting my clothes and shoes on, packing items in my purse and/or backpack, and selecting which mask I want to wear, that’s when I go to the Matrix.
The Matrix isn’t fictional, and it isn’t just a movie franchise. Most of the world lives in the Matrix and isn’t aware they do because of their occupations, their responsibilities, and their obligations towards the functions and order of this world we are taught are needed. That means it’s working. The Matrix is determined to keep us distracted from true freedom by providing us with the construction of an alternative, man-engineered reality to keep us in line and to obey the standards of white supremacy. If we don’t give our obedience, we are either punished or eliminated. We face persecution, imprisonment, or death, in both the metaphoric and literal senses.
My copy of Webster’s Dictionary defines matrix as “that within which something originates or develops.” I now know I was born a slave, not into slavery, but as a slave to the system that is housed in the Matrix. My understanding of the Matrix consisted of multiple places: the home I was raised in, the school district I graduated from, the church in which my spirit was supposed to be cared for, the friends I claimed as friends, and the city I spent the first 2 ½ decades of my life in. Everyone’s perception of the Matrix is different yet linked to the same construct, a monument of control and deceit.
To tell the story of how I escaped the Matrix would be an exhaustive feat. I’m sure I got started in this writing. Someone is curious. For the rest of the story, I would recommend staying connected and tuned to further writings and creations. Most of my life’s narrative has been spent in the Matrix. I look back at the floating timelines, amazed at my departure and immersed in staredowns with the moments bubbled in doubt.
And now that I’m here, I can declare a few things about myself. I am an abolitionist. I believe in an Afroqueer, transfeminist, gender expansive, and accessible future. The future I dream of won’t be rooted in white supremacist and white mediocre directions. I also believe it is necessary to pop in and out of the Matrix until this is achieved, an identical strategy shared with traveling the Underground Railroad. We must travel between worlds, the Matrix and our spirit-made cities of freedom, in order to annihilate this devilish society we’ve grown accustomed to, both by choice and condition. There are many keys we hold to accomplish this.
On my bracelet, I hold the keys of creation, grounding, and resistance. I’m a breathing ritual of creation, and I surrender to the ground for medicine. Resistance, of these three acts, is the most delicious. Resistance is an immaculate container to hold all I strive for. Resistance is a chameleon with support from the keys of creation and grounding. The Matrix is a gigantic creature, a villain pouring into its own demise, a cop strongly rooted in its belief of destruction as victory. I am more powerful than the Matrix, no matter what it attempts to manipulate. It can’t have my soul or my mind. Nor can it flush away my invisible bottle of red capsules.
Venus Kii Thomas 