There’s A Program for That!

Written By Pink Flowers

Everybody needs a program, y’all — for realz!

You know the cliché about the person who goes into recovery and then starts preaching to the world about it? That’s me AF, an’ I’mma tell you why. When you see a good movie, don’t you wanna tell everybody? When you eat at a good restaurant, don’t you tell all your foodie friends? How about when you go on vacation, land a killer job, or meet somebody amazing? You get my point? Something good happens, you frigging wanna tell the world.

All that aside, fact o’ the matter, y’all preaching about your programs all the time. Whatever you think’s the secret to your joy, you talking about it, or focusing on it, or ignoring shit you “should” be doing for your next fix o’ that shit, whatever the fuck it is. Just with some folks, they program is on purpose. With a lot of mo’ fugs, they been working the same program they whole life, damn near, ain’t got a clue they been doing it.

Get honest, here—what you giving your life too? What you worshipping? What you spend the most time/money on? When I say time/money, what I really mean is life, cause money just a reflection o’ time and time just a mechanical way o’ looking at life in little increments. Is it what you gonna buy next? Is it food? Is it that sexy mo’ fo’ you plan to see later? Is it more money? Do you spend your time worried about time?

Likely, you working something. The question to really ask yourself is, “Is the program I’m working, working?” If the answer is no, then you may wanna consider working a new program. If you still stuck on the fact you ain’t got no program—you don’t need one to balance life and shit—you prolly just working the program of your own ego. So, is it working?

How you know? That’s actually easy. When you shut the rest of the world out, and it’s just you with yourself, what happens? What‘s it like when you stuck someplace, with nothing to do but sit with your damn self? What happens when you think of losing everything? What’s your sense of self worth when everything else been stripped away—money, reputation, relationships, and all your other shit? That, my people, is your answer.

I don’t pretend to know if your answer is good or bad. You know it. So, the next question is, what are you gonna do about it?

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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