Poetry Is Not A Luxury: An Ethic Toward Survival

Prof. Majiq and Dr. Jé are sitting down for a conversation at the Ethical Society of St. Louis on Sunday, November 1, as part of the society's Sunday program, Platform. The session is titled Poetry Is Not A Luxury: An Ethic Toward Survival, and it centers on Audre Lorde's 1977 essay of the same name. Majiq, a writing artist and performer who teaches at the University of Baltimore while finishing their MFA, will talk through how Lorde's work has played into their own, and the two will unpack creative strategies and invite the audience to think about their own ethic of survival. The whole thing is framed as a dialogue on the power of word-working and freedom-making.

Platform is the Ethical Society's regular Sunday gathering, which opens at 11 AM in the upper-level auditorium. It usually brings together talks, music, and space for reflection and conversation, so this isn't just a single presentation—it's part of a larger morning. The Ethical Society itself is a humanist congregation centered on ethics, reason, and shared responsibility, and it's open to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.

Music will be provided by The Ethical Band, the society's house band, which is made up of and led by community members of all kinds, ages, and skill levels. Between the conversation and the music, the morning is built for listening and then talking it through. The session starts at 11 AM on Sunday, November 1, at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO 63117.