Loving words

[nilesheron]

“Tamir,

Your death may

not have mattered

to your country,

but your life – child,

your life will always

matter to

your people.”

They said his size made him look much older than he was. He was 12.

#blacklivesmatter #butonlytootherblackpeople

[andrewgibby]

It’s National Coming Out Day and I’ve been thinking about my younger self. How terrified I was the first time I fell in love with a woman. I was attending a Catholic college, playing basketball for the Lady Monks. (No joke). Many of my college professors were monks and nuns. I was studying creative writing and I spent the entirety of my last two years writing poems about masks and hiding. I could have graduated with a degree in How To Leave Pronouns Out Of A Love Poem.

Last spring, on tour, a friend told me that Nina Simone spent several years during the Civil Rights Movement refusing to sing love songs, refusing to sing anything but songs for justice and change. When I heard that I felt so charged and inspired. How fierce. How powerful. How unrentlessly committed. That night, before I got on stage, I had the thought that I wasn’t going to read a single soft or sweet poem. I decided I was going to read only social justice poetry through my entire set. But when I was making my set list it hit me that the simple existence of the word “she” in my love poem, made it a political poem. Isn’t that insane? (And I’m not using the word “insane” flippantly) Isn’t it insane that love is a political thing? That the heart is a political thing?

This morning I was hiking around Colorado and this heart leaf fell at my feet. If you are someone who has come out or has not come out I hope wherever you are today a leaf like this finds its way to your path. Thank you for being here. Thank you for existing. May you always fall and fall and fall for whatever your brave heart loves.

-andrea gibson, former lady monk

[bicoastal-correspondence]

You won't enroll me in this lie.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, upon accepting the National Book Award for non-fiction for his book, a letter to his son, Between the World and Me.

If there were one book to read this year, this is the one. This is the one.

[owning-my-truth-deactivated2022]

Being surrounded by whiteness day in and day out is just so exhausting. This is a shoutout to POC and especially black folks in predominantly white spaces and institutions. You matter, even if the spaces you are in constantly say that you don’t.

[lastnightsreading]

Daniel José Older at BookCourt, 8/24/15

[blkqueerdo]

you cannot know how well people’s bodies remember their ancestors

wild seed, Octavia Butler (via performance-sofa)

[bicoastal-correspondence]

[theriversandtheroads]

Kayla Snell Photography

[bicoastal-correspondence]

Jon Stewart Told Wyatt Cenac to ‘F*ck Off’ When He Was Challenged About Race

Whew.

Really important to hold space for this story and steer clear of complicity.

[unconditionedconsciousness]

Shame is the lie someone told you about yourself.

Anaïs Nin (via unconditionedconsciousness)

[bicoastal-correspondence]

Danez Smith’s poem speaks louder and more honestly than any summary I could try to offer of its power.

[lati-will]

Never change who you are to emulate someone’s preference, when that person might not even be aware of who they truly are, or their needs… you will become a complete illusion.

Awakened Vibrations  (via awakenedvibrations)

[micdotcom]

Watch: This may be the most important thing Jon Stewart has ever said 

[onevagabond]

MEMPHIS, TN (06/18/15) - Shots were fired into Saint Matthew Missionary Baptist church in the 2000 block of Pendleton during choir rehearsal.

The shooting in Memphis is the second shooting at a black church within 24hours. 

[mariposa-reina]

It’s important that immigrant children get degrees. That we become the fruit that our parents have harvested through their struggle, the ones they’ve nurtured, and fed, and watered and loved and lived for. Mami, this degree is for you. The strawberries can no longer claim you as their own.

[jasonapham]

[fansylla]

#Gina is a saint for modeling how to stay in your lane

[lavernecox]

On May 29, 2014, the issue of timemagazine magazine which proclaimed the “Transgender Tipping Point” was revealed with me on the cover. June 1, 2015 a year and 3 days later, Caitlyn Jenner’s vanityfair cover was revealed proclaiming #CallMeCaitlyn I am so moved by all the love and support Caitlyn is receiving. It feels like a new day, indeed, when a trans person can present her authentic self to the world for the first time and be celebrated for it so universally. Many have commented on how gorgeous Caitlyn looks in her photos, how she is “slaying for the Gods.” I must echo these comments in the vernacular, “Yasss Gawd! Werk Caitlyn! Get it!” But this has made me reflect critically on my own desires to ‘work a photo shoot’, to serve up various forms of glamour, power, sexiness, body affirming, racially empowering images of the various sides of my black, trans womanhood. I love working a photo shoot and creating inspiring images for my fans, for the world and above all for myself. But I also hope that it is my talent, my intelligence, my heart and spirit that most captivate, inspire, move and encourage folks to think more critically about the world around them. Yes, Caitlyn looks amazing and is beautiful but what I think is most beautiful about her is her heart and soul, the ways she has allowed the world into her vulnerabilities. The love and devotion she has for her family and that they have for her. Her courage to move past denial into her truth so publicly. These things are beyond beautiful to me. A year ago when my Time magazine cover came out I saw posts from many trans folks saying that I am “drop dead gorgeous” and that that doesn’t represent most trans people. (It was news to be that I am drop dead gorgeous but I’ll certainly take it). But what I think they meant is that in certain lighting, at certain angles I am able to embody certain cisnormative beauty standards. Now, there are many trans folks because of genetics and/or lack of material access who will never be able to embody these standards. More importantly many trans folks don’t want to embody them and we shouldn’t have to to be seen as ourselves and respected as ourselves . It is important to note that these standards are also infomed by race, class and ability among other intersections. I have always been aware that I can never represent all trans people. No one or two or three trans people can. This is why we need diverse media representstions of trans folks to multiply trans narratives in the media and depict our beautiful diversities. I started #TransIsBeautiful as a way to celebrate all those things that make trans folks uniquely trans, those things that don’t necessarily align with cisnormative beauty standards. For me it is necessary everyday to celebrate every aspect of myself especially those things about myself that don’t align with other people’s ideas about what is beautiful. #TransIsBeautiful is about, whether you’re trans or not, celebrating all those things that make us uniquely ourselves. Most trans folks don’t have the privileges Caitlyn and I have now have. It is those trans folks we must continue to lift up, get them access to healthcare, jobs, housing, safe streets, safe schools and homes for our young people. We must lift up the stories of those most at risk, statistically trans people of color who are poor and working class. I have hoped over the past few years that the incredible love I have received from the public can translate to the lives of all trans folks. Trans folks of all races, gender expressions, ability, sexual orientations, classes, immigration status, employment status, transition status, genital status etc.. I hope, as I know Caitlyn does, that the love she is receiving can translate into changing hearts and minds about who all trans people are as well as shifting public policies to fully support the lives and well being of all of us. The struggle continues…