Opening narration:

Recently I’ve been writing with my great grandmother

Her name was Lelia Manuel Simien

She was a strong and beautiful Louisiana Creole woman

And she gave birth to fifteen children

She made her own soap, her own clothes and our family lived entirely off the land in Mallet, Louisiana

She crossed over to the other side when my father was a baby so I never got a chance to meet her in person

But I’ve been meditating on her contributions to our family and the wealth of knowledge that she shared on how to survive

And how her many, many gifts created space for all her children to live freely and to share our gifts with the world…

Song:

Hydrated, satiated, emancipated

Can I tell you about the wealth that resides in my mouth?

I invited all my insecurities over for tea

And they told me about this other reality

That had nothin to do with me

Hydrated, satiated, emancipated

This is my direct line to the divine

She said I know it’s risky but you gotta let go

Let go

I know it’s risky to bend to the will of a dream that’s being fulfilled

Hydrated, satiated, emancipated

Lelia Lelia Lelia …. repeat til the end