What is High Tide?

High Tide, a SaltWater Black August, is a month-long manifestation of COVID-conscious programs curated by North Carolina's local Black queer artists and cultural workers connected to our collective. At its core, the programs reflect the study and practice of Black joy, rest, community, and the Self.

High Tide occurs when the moon is closest to our Earth. The moon, like a puppeteer of celestial proportions, makes marionettes of our vast oceans—a transformational dance of ebb and flow, wax and wane. Like a cosmic call-and-response, the nutrient-rich saltwater reaches out towards the moon in a rhythmical pull, reflecting the perpetual yearning for connection that lies at the heart of our collective.

Traditionally, Black August is a commitment one makes to fast, study, fight and train — to learn, specifically, about the struggle of political prisoners and our incarcerated kindred. SaltWater Sojourn acknowledges the whole of capitalism as a carceral system, where our livelihoods are predicated on the desires and power held by the few, and devoid of care.

With High Tide, we invoke the stories of Black mermaids and the powerful history of Ebo Landing as representations of our ancestral commitment to liberation, community care, and collective resistance. Our experiences converges at this symbolic juncture, where struggle meets resistance, study turns inward, and freedom finds its way through the rippling waves.

In the water’s rhythmic drums, we discover a balm; it’s in this surrender that we tap into water’s emotional and healing properties: the saltwater, a conduit for our shared narratives. In its depth, we see reflections of our past, a “perfect memory”; along the horizon, we access the Black radical imagination and see the possibilities of Black futures.

Keep up with us via this website, our Instagram page, and peep the events held during this transformational month of cultural programs. Pictures dropping soon!