Stress Addicts to the Front

Written By Pink Flowers

Stress may be the new drug, y’all — for realz!

I ain’t tryna judge none of y’all. I feel mad love for all the peeps that read my shit. But, I’m picking up on a vibe across all these themes. A lot of y’all (and prolly me too), tend to make excuses when it comes to holding on to shit that stresses y’all out. I got a truckload of tools I can use to settle my shit down at a moments notice. But I’mma say, seven times outta ten, I choose not to use ‘em and go down that road to wrack and friggin’ ruin.

I been sharing a lot of the hacks I use, specifically #wagelove, which came from late Detroit activist Charity Hicks, and I had it hammered home via Tawana “Honeycomb the Poet” Petty. I’ve had that shit called Kumbaya, I’ve had mo’ fo’s come right out and tell me they was blocking my shit, and I’ve gotten a lot of “who the fuck is this?” in response to suggesting that we embrace our internal mojo and project the energy of love into the world. Facts: Stop struggling and get spiritual.

Seriously, what’s that about? Does anyone out there really think screaming, cussing, wishing ill, fear, complaining or any other negative approaches to they problems is gonna lead to a solution? Do any of you think that scaring people into change is gonna work? I’m really asking. I can’t for piss do the math that saying louder and louder to people who hate me, “Stop hating me” is gonna make them start loving me.

I’m not trying to be holier than than any other ma’ fuggies out there. I just need somebody to walk me through this shit. I keep hearing how y’all protest politics is working. Based on my observation, ain’t nobody free, we’re still getting slaughtered, the planet in worse jeopardy than ever, and the ones who hold power got that shot more concentrated than ever in ma’ fugging history.

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Take a good look at your expectations. Do they fit the description?

Get vocal, y’all. Talk me off the ledge, if you think I’m on one.

Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers is a Black trans artist, peacemaker, educator, and pleasure activist whose work lives at the intersection of embodiment, governance, and cultural transformation. Trained in Theater of the Oppressed, Art of Hosting, and Navajo-informed Peacemaking practices, Pink designs spaces where conflict can be addressed, power can be examined, and joy can be reclaimed.

Her artistic and pedagogical practice draws from African trickster cosmology, Brazilian Joker traditions, shamanic ritual, and cooperative economics. She is the founder of the award-winning Falconworks Theater Company (2005–2021), which used popular theater to build civic capacity and participatory leadership in historically marginalized communities.

Pink served for over five years as a trained Peacemaker in the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, facilitating restorative processes within the New York City court system. From 2015–2018, she worked in cooperative business development with the Center for Family Life, supporting worker-owned enterprises in immigrant communities.

She currently serves as Director of Education and Training for the Inter-Cooperative Council in Ann Arbor, where she leads leadership development and conflict engagement initiatives. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally, including at the Stretch Festival in Berlin and the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference.

Across ritual, performance, mediation, and institutional design, Pink’s work asks a central question:

What becomes possible when we refuse shame and choose conscious power instead?

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