Part 4: Moving Towards Conscious Pleasure-Oriented Futures

by Justice Rivera, Ismail Ali, Paula Kahn

From erotic labor, to the rights of people who use psychoactive substances, to reproductive health, and carcerality - we are living through a political moment when debates about bodily autonomy are at a fever pitch. Towards Bodily A Healing Justice Anthology Decolonizing Sex Work and Drug Use is a bold and timely collection that confronts these charged issues at the intersection of social justice and public health. The fourth and final section entitled “Moving Towards Conscious Pleasure-Oriented Futures” grounds information from previous sections in the decolonial use of sex work and drug use and provides healing justice orientations for moving forwards.

In the words of leading advocates, service providers, and scholars whose lives and communities have been harmed by American neo-colonial policies, Towards Bodily Autonomy offers promising, healing-centered interventions that represent a critical culture shift. This section of the collection features trusted voices on health and social policy reform including Ismail Ali and Paula Kahn, as well as respected healers like Richael Faithful, Amira Barakat Al-Baladi, and Mona Knotte.

The articles and poems within are an offering to expand our collective understanding of survival, healing, and embodied freedom. Towards Bodily Autonomy is a must read for anyone with a compassionate worldview, people seeking to know more about underground economies, and those who know that punishment doesn’t lead to security. It is a liberatory design and a prayer for what’s possible.

94 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 5, 2023