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I love poet Andrea Gibson's work, and this short film elicits such a strong response from me.  On the one hand, it is such an affirming, validating, joyful celebration of our right to claim our own selves, our own bodies, our own identities. It's almost breathtaking.

But at the same time, this piece also prompts me to remember some of the bleaker moments of my own childhood and the struggle to define and hold onto what I was and what I wanted to be in the face of intense social pressure to be someone different--someone who would fit in, follow the rules, not make anyone uncomfortable.

I think both aspects of my response are important. We need to celebrate ourselves, our lives, our choices. But we must also always be vigilant; if we become too comfortable, if we forget the pain, the loneliness, the anxiety, that cam come along with the courage to define yourself on your own terms, we risk forgetting to extend a hand to others. Other who are like us in their differences, singular, unrepentant, resistant to conformity. We all have to take care of one another.

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"Your Life" from Andrea's upcoming album HEY GALAXY, out now at www.andreagibson.com HEY GALAXY Tour Dates Announced at www.andreagibson.com Directed & Filmed by Sarah Megyesy www.sarahmegyesy.com In collaboration with Jordan Beyer Ali Bibbo Special Thanks to Chris Wallis Kat Hodges

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"The Broken Column," by Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1944)

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"The Broken Column," by Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1944)

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This is one of many of the  self-portraits that feminist, disabled, pansexual Mexican artist Frida Kahlo painted following a devastating bus accident that  left her wheelchair-bound and in pain for the rest of her life. She is one of my favorite artists and is a constant inspiration to me because of her amazing imagination, vivid painting style, and her fierce independence.

The imagery here seems to express her anguish and suffering in the most straightforward and horrifying way. The nails are stuck into her face and whole body. A split in her torso looks like an earthquake fissure. In the background is the earth with dark ravines. In the beginning she paints herself nude but later covered her lower part up with something the looks like a hospital sheet. A broken column is put in place of her spine.

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Nobody does intersectional queer BIPOC feminist music manifestos like Janelle Monae! One the most creative, innovative songwriters and performers of our time, Monae fearlessly expresses the strength and beauty of the female body, mind, and spirit in this powerful song.

The almost hypnotic beat and Monae's soulful lyrics build to the rousing chorus. This is a case where the video is as imaginative and important as the song itself. The fresh, inventive imagery plays with all the layers of complexity in the lyrics. Together the song and the imagery demonstrate how in both art and life, the personal is always political.

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Janelle Monáe - PYNK [Official Music Video]

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One of the standouts of the Riot Grrrl movement, this intersectional anthem  exudes the joy that can emerge from rage and frustration. The long list of feminist women and queer artists, musicians, and writers works as an exuberant punk celebration of feminist creativity and empowerment.

The rolling bass and the seemingly free-form calling out names give the song a playful feeling, and yet the names themselves carry the weight of hundreds--even thousands-- of years of feminist and queer creativity in all art. We're reminded both of their outrageous and eloquent accomplishments and of the hardship and struggle they faced in a patriarchal society that excluded them.