The idea of actually starting a newsletter has always filled me with dread. Before writing anything, I’d first need to have to figure out the perfect logo, design the perfect theme, figure out the perfect balance of personal and professional writing, you know, make it relatable but not too vulnerable.
and how has that been working out for me? Well in the impossible pursuit of perfection, I never actually did anything.
So here we are - no logo, no theme, no layout, no plan.
I woke up today and decided to just do the thing.
Welcome to my first substack.
Here are some things that are helping me figure my shit out.
I’m watching: Uncle Clifford and Lil Murder heal me with their love on P-Valley
I’m reading: “Safety Planning and Intimate Partner Violence: A Toolkit for Survivors and Supporters”
I’m listening to: Las Culturistas talk about the brilliance that is Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
What I’m listening to right now as I write this : Mender, Kibrom Birhane
This week I found a hidden gem in LA’s Produce Market District: Reach LA, Trans Defense Fund, and The Hookers Army of Los Angeles’ Queer and Trans Self Defense Class. Reach LA’s was initially conceived in 1992 as a bi-annual rave/sexual health fair for youth in Los Angeles and continues to serve the queer youth of color through innovative programming.
Highlights: If you’re in LA you can get $$$ for getting an HIV test, there’s free voguing classes weekly, and everyone is cute.I put together a syllabus for Level Ground’s syllabus project 📚 you can read it now on their website. I’m currently a 2021 - 2022 Level Ground Artist in Residence and syllabus is a small peek into things I’ve been reading over the last year as I make and prep for my upcoming show on in September. A lot of it is about time and place, but also relationships.
Bonus: If you dig it, you can sign up for the syllabus discussion on August 13th and hear more.I identify as an aspiring abolitionist. What does that mean? I trust and study abolitionist leaders and try to start applying what I learn in my day to day life. Yes, abolition is about ending the prison industrial complex, but abolition also means killing the cop inside your head. Which at times, can be really fucking hard.
Resource: If you’re curious about abolition, me and my team at 18MR designed this poster that gives a little abolition 101. It is available for free, but when you buy one proceeds support the Southern, abolitionist organizing work of SEAC Village.
That’s it for this week. I’m keeping it short and sweet because if I don’t send this now this draft might sit here and never see the light of your phone screen.
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