RESISTENCIA: FINAL DAY OF FUNDRAISING

  

Me and TasZlin from Blaxploitation at my Book Launch/Benefit

What can I say? It's been an interesting ride this past month fundraising in various ways for Resistencia: Sangre.

Notes from an Afro-Genderqueer 2 Book Launch/Punk Show/Benefit at MonkeyWrench Books

These past couple weeks of the indiegogo campaign have been interesting. Crowdfunding can be a real challenge, especially when you are talking about race, gender, sexuality, ancestors and the reclamation of heritage, and sovereignty. It dawned on me that the very reasons I am writing this play- to talk about suppressed brown, queer history and resistance- are probably the very reasons that make raising funds for Resistencia: Sangre difficult. 

Liberatory art is in a league of its own. As much as folks want to be all "hip" and "in the know" and supportive of "radical" art, the truth is- it's got to look a certain way most of the time. And that look is not usually brown or queer. That look also isn't about dismantling systems of oppression and helping folks to find their innate power and work toward sovereignty.

When you use the word "anarchy" in a description- you can't use it lightly. It attracts a certain crowd. Right? It conjures up a certain image. Probably a white male with a mohawk, living in a housing cooperative on one of the coasts. Am I right? 

That's exactly why these brown radicals had to be committed to a similar philosophy. So that the audience can see that before anarchy was anarchy,our brown ancestors were committed to independence and freedom from colonization. Resistencia: Sangre will explore slave revolts and indigenous (Taino) rebellions and, though it is set in Puerto Rico, it's all of our story. This resistance happened all through the Americas and the history has been suppressed. In order to understand ourselves, our present and move toward the future we've got to understand our past. White allies included. Understanding our past and reclaiming our heritage is a form of healing and resistance.

     

So why are the main characters punks? Punks are white. Punks are racist. Punks are about fashion...they're not really rad. Some people may already be aware that punk music actually has some roots in Jamaica. Yep. Punk culture took its cues from rudeboy culture and rocksteady and ska music. During the 60s the Jamaican diaspora to the UK led to influence in fashion and music. The social and political commentary in punk music was definitely influenced by this Jamaican subculture...at least until it became black nationalist. Can't be white and influenced by and talking about black power...can you? Perhaps that's why some of the skinhead culture became neo-nazis and all about white power. Who knows. All I know is...I've seen brown folks in other countries talking about white power and heil hitler and I find it a little strange...but that's just me. Also, did you know there was an all-black punk band, called Death, that was around before the Ramones? 

There were also other influential black and brown punk bands in punk's early days who many don't hear about.

 

So, reclamation. Reclamation. Reclamation. 
It's a form of healing and resistance. No more suppression. No more appropriation. Resistencia: Sangre seeks to talk about our ancestors' resistance. It seeks to talk about present day resistance to the still existent colonial powers. The same colonization. This story is about decolonization in its deepest sense. It's about regaining autonomy and realizing our inherent power. It's about looking to our ancestors' struggle and healing all of our wounds.

So this is the final day of the campaign and I hope that those of you who are inspired or curious will invest in this liberatory art that will create some powerful dialogue about race, gender, sexuality, spirituality and so much more. 

Malcolm X said that the future belongs to those who prepare for it today. This is my contribution to that preparation and to a future where we know our histories of resistance and our capacity for justice and freedom today and in the future.

Here is the indiegogo campaign page:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/resistencia-sangre

EVERYONE who contributes will have online access to the play. For a $10 donation you'll get a 50% discount on the novel/play and for a love offering of $20 you'll get physical copies.
Will you be a co-creator and a co-visionary?

I want to give a COLOSSALTHANK YOU to these co-visionaries for walking with me on this journey:

                                           

Elisha Lim
La Loba Loca
Lizanne Deliz
Chelsea
Anika Fassia
Lisa Schergen
two Anonymous folks
Lotty Ackerman
Leila Plummer
Bunny Burrows
Markilous07
Angel Gonzalez

Shane Whalley
Isaac M.
Kit Yan

and offline contributors:

Kevin Thomas

Naya Jones

Matt R.
Lyndon
Bob J.

and

All those from the Austin community and beyond who came out to the Notes from an Afro-Genderqueer 2 Book Launch and Resistencia: Sangre Benefit at MonkeyWrench Books.

and

BLAXPLOITATION
our very own awesome, local POC punk rock band












I am so moved by the support I've received from friends and created family and even folks who don't know me at all, but that believed in this vision. I have such appreciation for all the co-creators of Resistencia: Sangre and I can't wait for you all to continue on with me during this journey to creating a radical, liberatory, brown, queer play and novel about the reclamation of heritage, resistance to colonization, and rediscovering our inherent power as a community.

I'm leaving to Puerto Rico to begin my research and writing on August 8th. I'll be documenting my visits to taino villages, pueblos with people of predominantly African descent, conversations with professors, espiritistas and healers, farmers, independentistas, anarchists, students, and others. I'm so excited! If you'd like to be a part of the creative process of developing this play and novel please contact me at gqstreetpoet at gmail dot com.

Healing and Solidarity,

Toi

** Though the indiegogo campaign is finished, you can find out more and continue to donate at the Resistencia:Sangre webpage HERE**

RESISTENCIA

Hello, Hello

It’s been a few weeks since my last entry but for good reason. I’ve been artivisting, organizing and food justice-ing.  I’ve been helping coordinate a farm stand run by predominantly youth of color farmers in a marginalized community with limited access to food, protesting  and calling for the closing of the Polk Detention Center in Livingston, TX, protesting the assault on women’s reproductive rights here in our state capitol, organizing with other brown, holistic healers here in Austin to address wellness in our community, and last but not least… finishing up Notes from an Afro-Genderqueer 2 and starting an indiegogo campaign for my upcoming radical, queer play centered around  activists, musicians and independentistas in Puerto rico called Resistencia: Sangre!

Here’s the scoop:

Resistencia: Sangre takes you, the co-authors, deep into exploration of Afro-Boricua and Taino identity and spirituality while also exploring liberation- Puerto Rican independence and anarchy. We follow a group of radical, queer independistas involved in Puerto Rico's underground movement and music scene who are interested in the dismantling of the current exploitative system and the collective liberation of the island's People. The group find out that their current story is the continuation of a much older story told in a parallel by their ancestors and predecessors.

About Resistencia: Sangre

In Resistencia:Sangre you'll listen to the silenced voices of Afro-Puerto Ricans, Tainos and their ancestors through the story of queer musicians, organizers and visionary community members committed to their liberation. While searching for their own autonomy and independence they stumble upon suppressed histories, tragedy, triumph and Truth.

                                                                             

Cancilio Taino Guatu-Ma- Cu

'    

The Characters:

A few of the main characters are part of a punk band, some are anarchist or anti-government , some socialist, some anti-capitalist, some are organizers and activists, some are artists, some are community members and visionaries, and a few are not political but one things for certain, the majority are about ending decolonization, "the Struggle", and their oppression and reclaiming theirbirthright: Freedom.

There will be scenes with their African, Taino, and even Spanish, ancestors and scenes with anarchist, feminist, and other radical and powerful predecessors. And the play will integrate the following themes...

Main themes:

• Liberation
• Independence/Interdependence
• Autonomy/Sovereignty
• Trans and Queer identity and injustice
• LGBT/Queer Rights
• Afro-Puerto Rican Identity-*in spanish, see above link for english 
• Taino (indigenous) Identity
• Land rights
• Environmental Justice
• Economic justice
• Gender justice

I'm super excited about the birth of this play as all of these themes contain elements of my personal history and I know that you, too, will be excited and satiated by the outcome.

Why Resistencia: Sangre is important

This play is all about reclamation and resistance. For far too long, we've been denied our histories and forced to forget our roots and expected to assimilate. Afro-Boricuas and Tainos, especially those inhabiting queer bodies, have a rich history of political and cultural radicalism that is seldom told. Weaving together the stories of characters that embody contemporary countercultures, feminist and anarchist historical figures, and African and Taino ancestry, Sangre: Resistencia will help us uncover the more hidden side of the Island's rich culture of dissent.



Reclamation is healing. Healing is resistance.

Who is Resistencia: Sangre for?

This isn't for broadway or fancy, inaccessible bookstores with coffeeshops in fast gentrifying areas. This is for the People. I want to bring this to queer communities of color, our families, friends and allies.

Sangre:Resistencia is meant to inspire dialogue that recognizes the significance of incorporating our spiritual roots, cultural ancestry and political heritage into our collective struggles to create a world free from exploitation.

While Sangre:Resistencia focuses on a specific group of Black and Brown Puerto Ricans, the themes addressed within are relevant to peoples of all racial/ethnic identities who are engaged in a struggle to dismantle oppressive hierarchies of power and reclaim their humanity.

Indigenous, Australian (Murri) artist and activist Lilla Watson once said:

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting our time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

Our liberation is bound up together. And as Martin Luther King, Jr. said:

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

When we listen to each others' stories we begin to understand the complexities that have led to our oppression, our roles in the oppression of others, and what it will take as a larger community to heal from and transform a system based on suppression, invisibilizing, and invalidation.


Just as it took hundreds of years of careful crafting for this ridiculous system to dominate the world, it will be a slow process to dismantle it.

It starts with compassionate and transformational dialogue and blossoms into strategic action.


I know I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired...aren't you? Good! Please contribute to a liberatory play and novel about the by, for, and about the People!

Yes, YOU!

What's Needed to create Resistencia: Sangre

•         Airfare - Roundtrip Austin- San Juan=   $350
•        Lodging- $40-60 (avg $50)/nt. (hostels,paradores, etc) @ 10 days ~  $500
•         Transportation  (cheap rental car -$200/wk, bus, metro) = $300

   (to Taino villages, pueblos of predominantly folks of African descent, University of PR campuses to speak with professors, sustainable farms and farms ran by women-"agro-mujeres" and visits to other sustainable projects, major cities: San Juan, Mayaguez, Ponce and mountain villages)

•         Gas $200
•         Food   $200
•         Emergency Funds $250
•         Fees charged by Indiegogo and Paypal- $200

Total: $2,000

What You'll Receive

As a co-creator of this work here are the amazing perks you will receive:

$5- Shout outs on the Afro-Genderqueer and Genderqueer Street Philosophactivist webpage
$10- above PLUS a shout out in the novel and play
$20- above PLUS a copy of either the novel or graphic novel and monologues from the play.
$50- above PLUS you get to name a character!
$100- all above PLUS you get to name the main characters' band or select scenes!
$250- all above PLUS a chance to contribute your art (poetry, drawings) to the novel and play
$500- All above PLUSautographed everything
two copies of play and novel
free tickets to closest show for you and your friends/fam
$750- All above PLUS you get to help construct a scene in the play!
$1000- Everything above PLUS
invitation to special Areíto (ceremony),
invitation to pre-show
invitation to pre-release of novel.

YOU are truly an integral part of this work! Let's build this together.

The Impact

It's not easy to fund brown, queer liberatory art projects. There are few plays produced by and centered around queer people of color that are addressing similar themes with the intention of co-facilitating discussion and workshops around personal healing for collective liberation. You can contribute to this and be a part of the R/evolution.

Every single dollar toward this work is important and I can't wait to collaborate with those of you who are interested in collectively creating this story.

Can't Spare the Change? Here are Some Other Ways You Can Help

•        Get the word out on facebook, twitter, tumblr, and even beyond social media! Please share this page with anyone and everyone!
•         If you know of any community spaces, theatres, classrooms, etc. that may be a great place for this work, please get in contact with me so we can make it happen!
•        If you'd like to be involved with production, readings, or artwork for the novels, please contact me: gqstreetpoet@gmail.com.

When Will We See The Fruits of Y/our Labor?

I'd like to have a first draft of the play done by 2014 and a draft of the novel by May 2014.

But have no fear, I'll be blogging about my time in Puerto Rico and giving monthly updates on the play and writing process regularly between now and March and I'll be releasing scenes online for all who are interested in how Resistencia:Sangre is developing.

 

 

Thank you all for your support! Let's do this!

Another Brown(less) Queerbomb

This year I made the best of it and I'm glad that I'd mentally, spiritually and emotionally prepared myself for a full night of not feeling represented and being largely ignored. This year, a fellow brown, Kwueen Shadez collective member that had accompanied me last year opted out, leaving me alone to table my own Philosophactivist, Afro-Genderqueer, and Queer Herbalist warez. I was supposed to be sandwiched in between allgo (our stateweide queer people of color organization) and the San Antonio 4 advocates and filmmaker. But, allgo wasn't present this year. (We'll get to that later.)

If you haven't heard of who the San Antonio 4 are, you should check out the documentary website and kickstarter page HERE and HERE. It's ridiculo what happened to those women. Basically three chicana lesbianas were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to 15 years of prison, along with a fourth innocent lesbiana, the so-called ringleader, who received 37 years behind bars. Check out the rest of their story on the websites.

So- back to the set up. It was SA4 and I and another brown guy representing a local socialist organization that were stuck out in Siberia across from the bar and between two designated trash cans for cigarette butts.

Nice.

It was hard for people to really see us in the milieu. We attracted a few cool folks, though. Some queerbombers were genuinely interested, other avoided us like the plague or came just to get candy from the SA4 table without even hearing their story first.

Hmph.

I decided to be even more strategic this year and had a philosophactivist "How Radical Are You?" Quiz on my table.

The questions were:

1. What is gender justice to you?
2. Do your circles include people of color?
3. DO the events you attend include people of color?
4. What do you know about the actual experience of the people in your neighborhood?
5. What do you know about housing, employment, legal and health care discrimination based on race in Austin?
6. Have you considered becoming an ally?
7. How do you build with people who aren't the same race/ethnicity and/or don't share the same language?

Yea. That.

I was so grateful for the handful of folks who'd come up to me and engage in conversation. Guess who mostly looked at the quiz. Ding Ding Ding. A small handful of folks of color. I do have to admit that some awesome allies looked it over. I got some awesome allies at my table this year and that made it worthwhile. 

Now, before folks pat themselves on the back about this, it's important ya'll know that some were friends of friends or had heard me spit spoken word at recent events or had been to my play, etc...

Still, I hope to really build with some of those folks who were with different organizations and who were basically on point. 

What does on point mean?

Well there's this whole thing with acknowledging your privilege, checking your privilege, and not assuming that you've mastered anti-racism/cultural competence/etc. or other forms of anti-oppression just because you're "liberal" or "leftist". It's also not culturally appropriating, not just saying you're "radical" and "progressive" and continuing to exploit, ignore, and silence folks of color or perpetuate cycles of systemic oppression by denying these cycles exist or pretending to be oblivious-

 "I'm color-blind." "We're all the same." 

Ring any bells? Should be a red flag, actually, because if you're able to not have to see color or cultural differences or go through certain types of oppression and you can assume that they don't exist, you've got a big, heaping pile of white privilege. 

Inclusion

Now let's talk Inclusion...

For some time, it's been known that Queerbomb isn't the most inclusive space. I understand that there are just thousands upon thousands of queer white people. We're (POC) certainly "outnumbered." I understand that there are some dope, brown organizers of the event. What I don't understand is why there are not more brown performers and community organizations and groups that are POC-led and queer allies. You can't tell me they don't exist. I work with them on a weekly basis. 

As far as performers, I thought to myself this year, "Why didn't they ask Las Krudas to perform?" What about some of the dope, brown and queer artists and queer allies at Authentx? Why couldn't they get Monica Roberts of TransGriot to come speak? Or Black Transmen, Inc. ? Or any of the number of folks associated with allgo's statewide network. Why didn't they have radical queer brown poets and academics like the ones at organizations like Fahari come? Or how about individuals like Erica GDLR and the radical poets she rolls with? Why couldn't we have a short 10-minute piece by Q-Roc? Or folks like scholar, artist, and activist Omi Osun Joni L. Jones or some of the other queer, brown artivist/academics that are here locally? Or what about the number of activist allies from Resistencia or PODER. All it takes is asking a few people...and most of us know each other and organize ACROSS ISSUES.

I thought this was radical. I thought this was political. I thought this wasn't like the other Pride event. I thought we were going back to its roots. Well its roots are oppression. Its roots are a group of people who were not able to gather without feeling repressed. A group that was excluded due to their different experience. Sound familiar? The Stonewall Uprising happened largely because of a group of brown transwomen (and a butch/transman) who many in this "movement" have forgotten. I dare folks to look up the true history of this movement.

"Radical simply means grasping things from the root."

Angela Davis

Right? Right on.

If we are going to get back to the roots, shouldn't we acknowledge this true history? Shouldn't we acknowledge the multitude of oppressions that are compounded in the complex identities of queer people of color? Shouldn't we also honor ALL people in this movement? Shouldn't we speak to ALL of our experiences. How much longer can QPOC leave parts of themselves at the door to hang out in "the movement" and be a part of these events?  (Even though we're clearly in the background and have been part of the foundation).

Should we (mainly those not affected) continue to play into color-blindness? Should we continue to pretend that everything's ok...because..."look at the numbers! People are showing up, who cares that they're all white!"

Should brown people continue to separate and isolate themselves due to feelings of exclusion. Should organizations representing them not show up because of this exclusion and because they feel ignored by the majority white folks that are there?

On alternate brown, queer universes

So, there were a number of after parties and two friends of mine threw an awesome birthday party (not even associated with QB, mind you) where everyone dressed like gods and goddesses, danced, talked organizing, politics, or just kicked it. There were a handful of djs present and there were majority Q/POC and allies. There were so.many.folks.there. Some even had braved queer bomb and showed up afterward, like me.

My question is this. Every year, there's a brown party or event created as an alternative to the others. Must we continue to exclude ourselves and create alternate spaces so that we can feel accepted?

"You're dividing the movement with those spaces", they say.

The best part about these queer, brown "alternate" spaces  is that we can bring all parts of us into these spaces. Why in the world would we go to a place with thousands of white queers who may say racist things to us or deny our experiences, self-expression, or existence when we can just do our own thing? Hasn't that been the "larger movement's" thinking for the past few decades? Since there are more white folks, why ruffle the feathers? They're not uncomfortable. Why be uncomfortable? Brown folks just don't want to come out to the event anyway. There aren't that many of them anyway. They'll be uncomfortable anyway.

Take a picture of this and save it for when you want to be reminded of what white privilege (and privilege, in general) looks like. Then, check it and do something about how it's manifesting and destroying community.

Well folks, I could go on and on about this. As always, I'll say that us QPOC are not obligated to come up with an answer to how this should be changed or how folks should work through their privilege and subsequent decolonization. Do not feel the need to tokenize yourself or to allow yourself to be tokenized. Remember Self-Care. If you are down to help folks sort through this, you are awesome. If you can't because it is damaging to you, you're still amazing.

That's all-

for now...

Oppression and Austin: Drag Performance, Racism, Misogyny, Transphobia

I'm almost certain that a number of folks of color may have seen a drag show where a white queen may have appropriated someone else's culture. I'm not sure if I'll call it "inevitable" but I'll say that it seems to be a fundamental part of drag culture. Women putting on kimono's, acting out the part of black women like Whitney and Aretha and maybe even Selena or Shakira. In comedy routines folks may even play the part of trans, sex workers or immigrants.


What's wrong with that? Drag is all about being campy, right? Maybe folks were being political? Anyways, art shouldn't have to answer to anyone...


In Austin, TX after two back to back incidences over 100 queers came together in a town hall meeting for a discussion on drag performance and anti-oppression.


The community conversation took place due to two drag performances portraying race and gender in, what some deemed, a very problematic way. One is actually a character, named Christeene, who is a trans, sex worker who, some believe to be portrayed problematically. The other performance happened on Cinco de Mayo and was called Sequin de Mayo and involved drag performers dressing up as cholas. The fliers had cholas behind bars on them.

Here is the letter that helped spark the discussion.

Here's a brief summary of what went down in our "anti-oppression" discussion which had over 100 people:


Description:

"Does political correctness divide the queer community? What are the pitfalls of oversensitivity? What are the pitfalls of accusing others of oversensitivity? How can our performances unite our community? How can our performances hurt or oppress members of our community? How can we productively answer these questions together?

Recently, there has been a lot of debate, discussion, and disagreement about queer performance practices (drag, music, etc.) within our community. This event is an opportunity for us to gather in the same space and address concerns that affect us all. The hope is that, by having these conversations, we will reach mutual understandings that benefit all of us in the queer community of Austin. EVERYONE is welcome and encouraged to attend: whether you have a lot to say, or aren't sure what to think; whether you perform all the time, or have only been to one show. Or maybe you've never been to a performance and you're just curious about what's going on in Austin's queer community."


Facilitators:


Matt Richardson, Assistant Professor in English and African and African Diaspora Studies

Juniper, an organizer anti-oppression facilitator


Format, Contract and and Working Solutions:

Town Hall update report:

So...I muscled through being mispronouned (the guy apologized 3 times afterward...but it still didn't erase that I had told him my pronouns as part of the intro exercise and he STILL got it wrong in front of over 100 queers or that I will be mispronouned in the community til I die...possibly).[aside: a guy called me "she" in front of the whole queer community when my pronouns are they/them or he/him or more preferably, Toi]


The anti-oppression conversation in a room of predominantly white queer folks was...interesting. Though I would say that we QPOC did establish critical mass. We heard a lot of perspectives. No Jerry Springer stuff popped off and, for the most part, everyone listened to the experience of those 1)who felt empowered by drag performers and 2)those who were hurt at some point by racist things that drag performers had done in our community. Drag performers also talked about their own personal experiences with their art.

I think it only became problematic when folks started saying it was our (POC's) job to come to the table and asking what they could do to fix this (though we QPOC and allies had already said it wasn't our job minutes before).

Other problematic points happened when a few performers said that no one should change their art and that they should be able to represent other cultures if they had good intentions...and a brown person gave license to folks dressing up as cholas but to be the "best chola they could be".


I particularly liked statements by Las Krudas...especially Odamayra when she said it wasn't her fault if white folks thought that their cultures were too boring to portray on stage.

I also liked when folks mentioned that if these (white) folks were so down, why didn't they show up when it was mainly QPOC performing and support in that way instead of "inviting" us or trying to be more "inclusive" in their (predominantly white) spaces.

I hope the conversation continues but I learned in Brooklyn while being concerned about "integrating" mostly white queer radical spaces that that's not what I'm here to do. I am more concerned with helping folks w/in our (POC) community heal from oppression. I am not to be tokenized. There is too much healing to do and I know that white folks need to do their own work with other white folks. (And yes! There are other white folks doing this work:
http://www.antiracistalliance.com/whiteness.html ) And many, many more groups exist that you can google...instead of asking a POC person!

You know, there was one (white and 1/? Native American?) lady who cleared at least 3 QPOC out of the room (and shut down I don't even know how many) because she kept saying hurtful things during her 3 minute schpiel during the discussion. She was crying and saying the system wasn't white folks' fault and asking how could she help us (POC). Folks kept getting up and walking outside to the designated safe space and she even acknowledged this as she talked. Afterward she went into the safe space outside to track down the people who had left to ask what she had done wrong and how she could fix it and telling them that "we" (QPOC)want to be heard but that them leaving the room wasn't going to fix it.

                                                                          W.T.F.


Sigh.Sigh.Sigh. Odamayra also mentioned that it's interesting how all these folks will show up for something like this...but not to build or support anything political (immigration rights, unemployment, etc.).
All in all my assessment is that it was a good step for this community. Folks from the community came up with a list of solutions...there's an email list to set up a way to continue the conversation.There's already a scheduled anti-racist conversation. Sure, folks mingled long after the forum. But...I'm skeptical about what will come from it. I snapped my fingers and clapped my hands at more comments than I tried not to roll my eyes at. But...have I seen this before? Time will tell...I am grateful to the organizers who took a lot of heat and the facilitators for jumping on the skillet and roasting a little bit during 2 1/2 hours of dialogue. They kept composure and made sure this epic (for Austin) dialogue happened in a "civilized" manner.

Click here for one of the organizer's perspectives.

Of course there are still ripples of conversations happening online which are catty, negative, ridiculous, racist and are denigrating what happened the other night. Of course there are.

You see, here's the thing...

Visible queer culture in Austin is largely white. Don't believe me? Visit QueerBomb on June 1st and check out the demographics. That's not to say that there aren't brown queers here. Oh we're here. We have our bubble...we have our own events like the Puro Chingon Social club which hosts the Free and Queer Cinema, and allgo (our statewide QPOC non-profit org) puts on all kinds of workshops, plays by Adelina Anthony, D-Lo, readings by Tim'm West, and holds space for us marginalized and underrepresented in the "larger queer culture" of this not so liberal or progressive city that still thinks they're "weird".

Weirdly conservative despite what they think...wish...hope.


True Counterculture in Austin is brown...

The counterculture here is truly those Q/POC and allies who meet for potlucks in each others homes, and create events like Artivism--

a QPOC poetry event featuring poet activists/artivists and political poetry, and carve unlikely spaces for themselves among the hippies, hipsters, and blind conservatives. 
The truth is- it's really easy to be deemed as liberal and progressive "for the South". Austin holds on to this image of being so avant-garde so tourists will come and maybe even stay awhile. But this doesn't mean that this city or ANY city who proclaims to be progressive is actually progressive. It's all relative? 
Yea. I suppose.

The saving grace of this city is that it is a college town and that the university is (usually) progressive. (At least the brown people and allies there keep it that way) 
 UT Austin has events like Abriendo Brecha

which is designed to bridge the gap between academia/scholarship and social justice work.

There's also the John R. Warfield Center for African American Studies where the awesome QWOC professor Omi Osun Joni L. Jones can be found breaking down barriers, talking about movement and reclamation, and writing her books,plays and poetry.

Deep down however...there is a dark history of segregation starting with laws passed in 1928. Check out the East Austin Gentrification Timeline

There is still housing, employment, and health care discrimination based on race and socioeconomic status. And it is so deep and continues to be written into policies. Oh that's everywhere...you say? It's inevitable, you say...
Oh see, I thought that's what made cities that are liberal and progressive different. I thought they were supposed to be hip to these issues and be set on doing something about some or all of them.

So many times I hear white radicals and hippies talking about institutional and structural racism and patriarchy and the importance of anti-racism and such but rarely do I see much being done about it in a substantial manner.  It's just something cool to talk about with your friends at the coffee shop that was built in what used to be a brown neighborhood until the city wanted to "revitalize" the place which added to displacement, harassment and violence from increased law enforcement against black and brown bodies. But that's good because now there will be all these businesses pumping money into...well oops...not the neighborhood. But ...they're good for the community...ooops...not the "old community". But boy those new homes and "community markets" sure look great...don't they? Oh no..they are getting too suburban and the prices are getting too high so on to the next neighborhood with their privilege and mobility in hand! Don't like it POC...why don't you just move, too?

Because being poor is expensive.

Because the poor are considered a "risky" investment gas, groceries, interest on your house, credit cards, loans, etc. are more expensive.


Why am I saying all this?
Because the queer community is a microcosm of this macrocosm. Things are actually exacerbated when multiple identities and oppressions collide. When a person embodies multiple marginalized identities (queer, brown,female,etc.) and they are part of a "larger community" that fails to see how a performance or an event perpetuates cycles of structural racism (because of the unearned privileges they've earned due to their white skin) it's kind of hard to empathize with their "art" or "movement" or continue to see folks as "radical" or "progressive". And even harder to believe that this "pushing of boundaries" is designed to be transgressive or political. Campy becomes just another way to perpetuate stereotypes. 

This is a great article on that sort of thing.

Just because a person is brown...

And I find it necessary to add that just because a person is brown doesn't mean that they are not invested in white supremacy unconsciously or consciously. We are all dealing with internalized oppression and the color of our skin does not guarantee that we are not perpetuating the oppressive cycles that we have been socialized to take part in and perpetuate. It is really hurtful to our Q/POC communities when a person from our community co-signs onto racist/sexist/transphobic events because they haven't checked what they've internalized or given any sort of analysis to the performance/event. 


Art is art...

Some will say- But art is art. Artists don't have to be held accountable...artists don't need to be responsible. Art doesn't always have to be political.

And I'll say...we Q/POC will continue to hold you responsible and accountable for racist bullshit. We are tired of racism and sexism being perpetuated all "for fun". We are tired of you being able to sleep at night after you've wounded several in our community. We face this every.single.day. And while it's not your duty to make us feel comfortable...it's not our duty to keep you feeling comfortable either. 

As soon as you decide to appropriate or exploit, it's considered political. Whether you want it to be or not.

And we are going to call you on it. And we are going to keep calling you on it until you get that it's not ok to exploit, appropriate and expect us to assimilate into what you deem as entertaining. You keep doing your thing...which is exactly what being privileged and entitled is about...and we'll keep being "angry" and brown and calling you on it. 

These anti-oppression conversations that are popping up around the country are extremely important because they are an attempt to unravel the fabric of a country which has been interwoven with racism, xenophobia and sexism. Don't worry- it will be transformed and restitched. But no...you won't be able to hold on to your oppressive views and get away with it under the guise of "artistic freedom" or "just having fun". You can look at your fellow white artists and ask the token brown one to cosign that your art is ok...but you and I both know that it's not. Never was...never will be.

I know it sucks that now you'll have to think about everyone you may be wounding with your art. But you know what's worst? Being born into a racist system and dealing with racism and other types of oppression on a daily basis in the media, health care, your job, school,etc. and being invisibilized, tokenized,  or told that this oppression doesn't exist or is just for entertainment purposes. Take that shoe and wear it for a while...and then come back and say "art is art" or ask Q/POC to teach you about their pain and what to do to heal it or call us angry because we won't tolerate it anymore...especially within a smaller queer community.

The time has come for queers perpetuating oppression to be called out and for people to be held accountable...plain and simple. This isn't new. It's been happening since the 70s and maybe even long before. But our voices are even louder now with social media and our allies. 

So, instead of expecting folks to re-assimilate into an ancient model that works for the few, it'd be best to just succumb to decolonization and become an ally or just a better human being for it.

This is not POC's work

Though I've written about this here and here, I'd like to reiterate that this anti-oppression and decolonization work, if you're white, needs to largely be done with other white folks.  It is not my job to help anyone "slum it" for a day workshop or help you understand yourself and your place in this system better. Why? Because along with that comes the expectation that I will suck up or invisibilize my own pain to make you feel better. I've seen many an anti-racist workshop that had white folks in tears and brown folks tending to them and telling them they are not a bad person. And you're not. Well I don't know you...but I assume you're not if you are reading this particular blog or have been referred to it by some awesome friend of yours.

The thing is, we as POC have been trained to hide our own feelings and deny our own experiences of pain and put white folks' first whether it's at our jobs or in other daily interactions. It's residual from slavery and I dare you to analyze your everyday interactions ...I mean, really scrutinize them, and see where you can see this taking place.

So yes...it's not POC's work to educate. We have our own internalized oppression to heal from and we can't heal you from yours simultaneously. Though, we can be compassionate and be a part of larger conversations like the town hall meeting that happened the other night. But remember, some people left wounded and that's why folks might opt out of these conversations. This should be respected. All anti-oppression work, of course, must have a foundation of compassion, respect and understanding and it may take some time to get there...

but we will get there. 
Paso a paso...one step at a time.