meloncholia: a black rage ritual
The next MELONCHOLIA will take place Fall 2026 in Chicago, IL. Listen to the audio collage here, and sign up for early access below.
about the ritual
Fibroids — mysterious uterine tumors prevalent in Black people — are often compared to fruit in size. Some are as small as apple seeds while others grow as large as watermelons. While their origins continue to stump researchers, some point to the hormonal and genetic impacts of stress and unaddressed anger.
Who's allowed to be angry? Repression is a form of social control that weakens both the physical and collective body. With no safe way to be expressed, our anger can turn inward, becoming shame and silence, powerlessness and pain. How can we reclaim our right to feel and express anger? Which systems and structures deserve our loud dissent? What would transform — inside and around us — if we set our anger free?
Where does anger live in your body, and what does it want you to know? Join poet Kemi Alabi for a speculative theory of fibroids and fruit-filled ritual. Featuring music by DJ Love Marie, fruit banquet and libations by Alexandra Antoine, and somatic support by Liberation Healing, we'll shake, smash, speak, feel, and air out what ails us.
I: Call & Response
An interactive gallery walk. Enter the world of fibroids and share your own relationship to pain, stress, and anger.
II: Opening the Vent
Doors close, vents open. An audio immersion, the pouring of libations, and a toast to begin.
III: Rage Banquet
A fruit banquet table to dine on or smash. A shake space with vibes by DJ Love Marie. Somatic invitations to let the anger move you.
IV: The Balm
Closing it out with herbal supports, conversation, and calls to action.
How It Feels
“By the time we left, it felt like a weight had been lifted.”
“There are no public spaces where vulnerability is welcome—especially as a Black, queer, nonbinary person socialized as a woman. And this was a cocoon of safety to meet myself exactly where I am with my grief and rage.”
“It made me feel seen, it made me feel free, it made me feel a sense of awe and reverence not only for who I am and my journey, but for the community of folks around me and the journeys that brought them to that collective moment.”
“This was such a gift to receive.”
What You’ll Learn
“I am learning that there is no ‘perfect arrival’ of being integrated to my emotions, sensations and needs—it is cyclical.”
“I did not know how many Black AFAB folks were impacted by fibroids. As I shared about the ritual after the event with friends, I learned of mothers, aunties and other family members who struggled with fibroids and complications related to identifying uterine cancer.”
“Before the event, I felt awed by the graphics illustrating the different emotions, sensations, and needs, curious to recognize and identify my experience of each. Afterwards, motivated to continue committing to that effort and addressing as much in my own therapy.”
Let’s Get Free
Sign up below for updates and early access to the next MELONCHOLIA.