The Practices We Make w/ Simone Reynolds
- Po' Chop
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 3
In this edition of The Practices We Make, we sit with our 2026 Eros Fellow Simone Reynolds to discuss beauty, Black feminist practice, imagination, and the worlds she is building through movement, sound, and collective gathering.
Together, we reflect on lineage, beauty fugitivity, laughter, and the possibilities that emerge when beauty becomes radically autonomous.
How do you introduce yourself these days?
Simone/Mo (she/they)
My practice is
an invitation to witness everyday beauty and creativity through a Black queer feminist lens.
Who are the lineages, teachers, or communities that live in your practice? ?
Five years ago, someone affirmed me by saying "You're apart of the Chicago (art) diaspora," and it just stuck with me since then. I come from the lineages of afterschool and summer youth arts programs across the city, but most of them were out south. I was involved in Rebirth Poetry Ensemble, Assata's Daughters, the Teen Arts Council, and more. A lot of my involvement in the arts as a young person influences my current approach to my practice. When I run into my teachers, mentors, and collaborators, they often remind me of the power of my imagination. It encourages me to "continue to continue," as Lucille Clifton puts it. I believe that there is wonder-working power in the personal narrative. Reading the text of Black cultural ancestors like Assata Shakur's "Assata: An Autobiography," Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," and Audre Lorde's "Zami: A New Spelling of My Name" encourage me to keep telling my own stories and the stories of my ancestors as an act of resistance to erasure of us Black folk who are on the margins of the margins.
What are your current curiosities?
I'm curious about what beauty embodied and in practice looks/feels like beyond Eurocentric beauty standards. I'm also curious about the potency of these embodiments and practices beyond aesthetics. We live in a society and culture where we focus a lot on what things look like instead of what they feel like. I want to investigate that for myself and my community. There's a lot of things for us to get free from, but this in particular has been on my mind a lot lately.
Do you have a ritual, playlist, or grounding practice that holds you while you create or teach?
I listen to Being Here by Laraaji at least twice a week, especially while I am meditating, stretching, and creating in the space. I engage in the practice of prayer to guide my hands and heart in the right direction within my art making and teaching practice. I am also a land steward, which reminds me that I need to my hands in some more soil soon. Weeding, planting, and watering are apart of my mindfulness practice. I have the will to be well, and that grounds me in my life, inside and outside of the studio and learning spaces.
What drew you to House of the Lorde?
The name immediately drew me in, but House of the Lorde truly lives up to its name. It feels like an embodied altar for the uses of the erotic. It is a place where I started to return to the pleasure practice of being in my body through burlesque classes. I was able to do this, because I felt safe and seen.
What do you hope folks feel or discover when they learn from or witness your work here?
I hope folks can witness the honesty of my work. I hope folks can witness the integrity that I have for myself, my story, and my values of care, play, courage, and spirit-informed creativity.
What does Black feminist practice mean to you?
A Black feminist practice means a living, breathing devotion and responsibility to building a world where Black people of marginalized genders who are poor/working class, disabled, chronically ill, neurospicy, queer, trans are at the center.
What is bringing you joy or laughter lately?
Laughter is so important to me, and has been a balm for me throughout my life. I always pray that I will know joy as deeply as I know sorrow. I told my friend the other day, "If nobody else makes me laugh, I will be okay because I crack myself UP!" Besides that, inside jokes with my younger sister, funny churchy videos of folks cutting up in the pews and pulpit, chaotic singing videos, and random funny memories from the past.
How are you tending to yourself in this season?
I have been practicing giving myself more grace to pivot and tenderly adapt to changes in my life. I am letting tears fall without constantly wiping them away, I am resting when my body tells me to, and nourishing myself through cooking when I have the energy to do so.
What future or world are you imagining through your work?
I am imagining a world where our understandings of beauty are ungovernable and radically autonomous.
Is there anything else that you want to share with the House of the Lorde community?
Yes! AfroFlare Salon's Beauty Fugitive Revival is happening on Thursday, June 18th, 5 pm at House of the Lorde. It is a Juneteenth gathering for Black people of marginalized genders to imagine shapes of beauty with our bodies and voices beyond the gaze of anti-Blackness. It's going to be a good time of healing through movement, sound, and meditation.
Oh, and subscribe to my Substack. I will be sharing more of my curiosities, research, and stories there!
Gratitude to Simone for sharing her practice with us at House of the Lorde we hope you'll join us on June 18th.
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