#youngist

[niaking]

I got interviewed about my new book Queer and Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives by my best friend, Luna Merbruja for youngist! Read the interview here.

[queerbookclub]

You are more than your trans self: Ryka Aoki's He Mele A Hilo

...Ryka Aoki’s new novel He Mele A Hilo: A Hilo Song takes place on the borders between reality and fantasy; it provides a moment so intensely similar to my own life that it left my jaw agape and my mind full of questions about myself and the very ideas of power and privilege.

[amisouennemis]

by Nicole Ouimette

The revolution will not be cited. It will not have a bibliography, or a title page. The revolution will never happen in the seclusion of the ivory tower built by racist, sexist, and classist institutions. Professional academic researchers in the social sciences of many colleges and universities exploit the struggles of oppressed peoples.  

Oppressed peoples are left stranded with little to no resources after researchers leave their communities high and dry 

[thefeministpress]

When we watch an awards show elevate “Woody’s women” all evening and relegate even the most talented of us to the margins, women of color receive the message that we are unworthy of occupying space on our own terms. Every joke made about our “weird” names or our “outrageous” bodies or our ability to “get play” with our white male rapists pushes us further into that dark corner called invisibility—while the women who laugh at the prospect of our degradation continue to receive praise.

[18mr]

Katrina Casiño, writer, organizer, and itinerant queer barber, is today's Filipino American History Month Hero! Katrina writes for Autostraddle, is an editor at Youngist, and is one of the key organizers of PHRESH CUTZ, a pop-up queer barbershop in Brooklyn, NY.

For Filipino American History Month, we’re highlighting Fil-Ams who are carrying on a proud legacy of activism & organizing. Who’s your hero?

[gwsuillinois]

Assemblages & Affinities: Reimagining Inderdisciplinarity

[kcdanger]

Though to some, the actions taken by the Dream 9 and the subsequent hunger strike may seem extreme, but these actions share the sentiment that lies at the heart of civil disobedience - human beings taking their bodies, their final resources, and using them to demonstrate systematic injustice. In the past few decades, the public has witnessed the limitless potential that lies within the use of bodies for action. Indeed, we have watched bodies do incredible things, but seldom have we been spurred into demanding long-lasting reform. Now is the time to take up the challenge. Bodies have occupied public space, they have marched on Washington, they have sat at lunch counters, they have laid down dying in cathedrals. They have been sent across borders, and now we must bring them home.

Katrina Casiño, Bodies Without Borders: Why the Dream 9 Matter for {Young}ist

yo i wrote a thing

[youngist]

Meet the Editors: Queen Arsem-O'Malley!

  Who are you? 

I’m Queen, one of the editors for Youngist. I’m a 21-year-old recent graduate who should probably spend more time looking for jobs and less time watching Arrested Development. I previously wrote and edited for a campus newspaper at McGill, and am currently also an editor for CanCulture, an online magazine devoted to covering Canadian culture from a youth perspective.

  Where are you based? Where are you from? 

I’m currently based in Montreal, Quebec, where I attended McGill University. I’m originally from Boston.

What's your favorite thing about the place that you live? What about where you are from? 

My favourite thing about Montreal is the great selection of dive bars. My favourite thing about Boston is the Red Sox and Dunkin’ Donuts (though I guess those apply to all of New England).

Where did you go to school (high school and college, if applicable)? What is your experience with educational institutions?  

I went to high school in Boston at a school that emphasizes its rigidity, reputation, and tradition, and then went to McGill, which does the same thing. I spent a lot of my time at McGill writing for The Daily, an independent student newspaper, trying to keep the administration accountable and communicative, and pushing institutional change that would make higher education less -ist and -phobic (classist, racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, etc.). I graduated extremely frustrated with the inaccessibility of higher education and the stubborn refusal of those in charge to open their eyes and listen to their students.

  How did you get involved with Youngist?  

I had known Izzy for a little while – we met through mutual friends, and then spent time together in Quebec during the student strike and I loved following the work of NYSR and CUNY activism, so she reached out to me to be a part of Youngist. I originally came into Youngist as a contributor, and was super excited about the project, and eventually joined as an editor.

  How would you describe the current "online mediascape"? Where do you think young people (15-30) should get their news and analysis?  

I think the online mediascape – mainstream news outlets, alternative news outlets, the blogosphere, social media – can be pretty overwhelming, and it can be hard to tell what the motives/agenda/backgrounds are of the people writing and commenting on current events. I get a lot of my news through social media, because I can choose who to follow, and learn about news through the lens of people and organizations that I already know and understand.

  How, if at all, do you think social media can be used as a tool in grassroots organizing? 

Social media has an amazing capacity for making connections that you would never be able to make otherwise, across borders and movements and even languages. I think it can add great visibility for grassroots organizing, and has an ability to reach people who aren’t exposed to organizing or social justice in their physical communities.

  What do you hope to be able to accomplish through Youngist for our first year?

I hope that we are able to become a venue for young activists to feel comfortable writing and creating work about projovements that they feel passionately about, and a place for safe and productive discussion about issues facing young people and young activists in both their work and day-to-day lives.