1118 Search results for "trans people"

Our world has made gender into a cage
I am tired of thinking about and talking about and writing about gender. In fact, sometimes, I wish gender didn’t exist at all. This is an unpopular and unexpected thing for me to say, given the work I do and my background in Gender Studies. Still, it’s true. I don’t want to have to spend […]
one party
y’all playin. we got these libido ones kissin cute in the corner. these other rhythm ones at the speaker nodding and taking requests. those bodies over there with sweat and hips and shoulders. even the head ones creating clouds we can smell and taste. she just got here and it will only be a few […]
Black dissociation is a requirement of capitalism
CW: mention of body changes, dissociation and dysmorphia. by Imani As a Black person who has survived trauma and poverty, I assumed that I could handle anything, including what has been a physically debilitating matrix of illnesses. But in less than 8 months I started experiencing dissociation. I moved from a body I fought to learn […]
Police-Free schools are necessary, as is abolishing the white supremacist state they are rooted in
by Mustafa Ali-Smith As protests continue on both the national and global scale, widespread call-to-actions ramp up. Dismantling, defunding, and divesting from policing and providing police-free schools are becoming a part of everyday conversations. Early educational institutions have even begun to respond to these call-to-actions by ending their relationship with local police departments and promising […]
Accessing competent care is another hurdle Black folks shouldn’t have to navigate
Content Warning: Medical Violence My nana, Ella D. Martin, was a nurse from Greenwood, Louisiana who slept with medical books underneath her bed, and sometimes her pillow. And no matter the time of day, Nana would receive medical emergency calls from folks all over the world, well until she was 80. Though she worked in […]
What might happen if we ignore our grief during quarantine?
I come from a whistling family. We like sound. The way tones release emotion, scent, possibility. The way whistling can shape and bend bone, can spellcast, can river. I sat at the feet of the women in my family often, feeling lucky and at home in their voices, their stories, the way they moved their […]
When Black folks astral project to create order out of disorder
I am tired of living in this body, and so I have decided to astral project more often. Calling it “astral projection” instead of “dissociating in the shower” makes me feel better. It feels more true, I guess. “Dissociating” sounds so clinical. They call it disorder, but it doesn’t feel that way to me. It […]
How I use ancestor veneration to navigate my Mother’s Death
by Hess Love Sometimes I feel like a motherless child… a long way from home- Negro Spiritual Sunday is Mother’s Day. And the grief of losing my mother regularly brings me to my knees. I don’t imagine this day being any different. Sometimes my grief is a distant shore, sometimes the water of it wades […]
Violating stay-at-home orders directly harms Disabled folks, but what else is new?
Content Warning: Ableism, Car Accident, Death and Discrimination by Dominique Alexander McPhearson I’m in my room watching old NBA highlights, since the NBA, along with the rest of the country, is on lockdown. Quarantine doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother other people. After an accident left me paralyzed from the chest […]
PCOS and Intersex: A Case for Solidarity Against The Binary
Content Warning: Descriptions of medical violence against folks who are intersex and/or have been diagnosed with PCOS by Gillian Giles When I was 12, the anticipation and excitement of preparing to experience my first period was all consuming. Cultural messaging taught me that the event would be a gender defining moment. I hoped starting my […]
Black conspiracy and skepticism persist because we believe the evidence of our experience
by Donnie Moreland There is a whispered binding between Black folks and the truth. Less truth, in that meta-ethical way we discern the spiritually evidential as Black folks, but truth telling. The expressions, negotiations and altercations with, and of, “facts.” How we tell the truth, digest it and confirm that truth as just that; gospel. […]
How nonprofits gaslight you into the same self-sacrificing work as capitalist corporations
by Taneasha White Nonprofit work is always seen as “God’s work.” Before they even know which organization I work with, chatty Uber and Lyft drivers immediately thank me for my service. There are things that are commonplace within nonprofits that aren’t expected in corporate settings. The idea of “ice breakers” before meetings, flex time, or […]