#awqward

[soniagallegomora1996]

Awqward digital painting of me, a couple of years ago

[anhonestinqueery]

Vote here!!!! You can vote everyday :) http://www.hitlikeagirlcontest.com/18-plus/entry/twoc-poetry-2016

The Hit Like a Girl contest is an international drumming competition and my girlfriend Vita is competing to make history as the first trans woman of color to win! Please check out her video and vote and share!

“I started drumming when I was 14, after a few moments of getting Saturday school for tapping pencils on the desk. Funny right? So anyway, I was in Saturday school, doing the same stuff that got me put there in the first place. The band director hears me tapping, and asks me to become a concert band percussionist for the school.Three years later, I'm auditioning to be a music educator, but I was majoring in the tuba for some reason (my high school band director didn't like drummers). I SUCKED AT IT, and I knew I sucked at it, because my jury grade told me so. I wanted to be a percussionist, a drummer, a rhythmic storyteller, so after 6 auditions and five resounding "no's," I finally worked hard enough to get accepted as a Percussion Performance Major. My teachers have literally traveled the world to learn percussion, and I soaked as much of it up as I could. After I graduated, I worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, and was almost forced to give up music instead. Add to that, the realization that I'm a transgender woman comes up within that same year. I decided that teaching was only part of what I want to do, and I had been doing it for 2 years. It was time for a change, time to get back into it. Percussion called me back every time, and I couldn't stay away.As a result, I made the move to Illinois to begin transitioning, and earn my Master's Degree in Percussion. Unfortunately I only lasted a semester, and I had to find ways to get music back into my life, and survive. YouTube opened the door, as well as some amazing support from the TQPOC (Trans and Queer People of Color) Talent Agency that took a chance on me. In the 13 years I've been playing, music has been my cure for homelessness, hopelessness, overwhelming stress and anxiety, as well as the very idea of existing on this planet as a Black Trans Woman Drummer. Through all of that, I have had music, as well as my mentors and inspirations in my life, when things seemed their worst. I hope to be a mentor to other women and girls like me. I want to show them, that no matter what the world throws at you, there is a chance for us to make a mark on the world, in more ways than one.”

[thisismyexcuseforasociallife]

Actual convo with my friend

Me:*talking about this guy

My Friend: He's really rich

Me:how do you know? Do you stalk him or something?

Her: Oh no! I just know where he lives...

[ladydanefe]

I am excited to be to be back in New York Performing this Saturday and Sunday At Submerge. Hope to see you there. 

[majestic-manchild]

When you meet people on tumblr that you know in real life.. So you hide your weirdness😨

[glsen]

"Come hone in your skills in writing, performance, movement, humor and intersectional narratives with an all TQPOC teaching team from awQward ♥ Meet other artists, get some stage time and create some brilliant new work! Your artists in residence: Regie Cabico / Spoken Word & Theatre Artist Dane Figueroa Edidi DreamWolf (YaliniDream & I Love Jendog) Chelsea Shorte J Mase III Workshops are 12-5pm both days with educator & participant performances in the evening!"

If you’re in the D.C. area August 29 & 30, please check out this event by our friends at awQward talent! 

awQward specifically seeks to provide a platform for trans & queer folks of color to share their art and brilliance with the world.

This will be 2 incredible days full of empowerment and enlightenment.

[awqwardtalent]

I'mma get real honest with y'all real quick: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, was a man of non-violent action that stood for the liberation of black people. Non-violent. And he was still shot to death by a white supremacist government that couldn't even take a non-violent negro declaring his rights to freedom. When a white person comes at me, or another black person with a misquoted MLK saying (as per usual, like some mishandled Bible quote their pastor spit like twelve million Sundays ago) in regards to riots or black liberation tools that doesn't meet their white standards, all I hear is one thing: "Here is the dead body of your leader!! He does what we want now!! And if you don't act right, this is how you'll end up!!" Using MLK to shame black folks into acting in a way that you find appropriate in a time of grief, pain, and fear is disgusting. Find another way to uphold your white supremacy, but how dare you use our ancestors in your name.

J Mase III, poet/founder of awQward