Hi, I’m Bianca — a queer, Japanese-Lebanese-Syrian, Artist, Professor, & Creative Strategist living in Los Angeles. In case you are new here or if a reminder could help, this newsletter began as an exploration of figuring things out, one day at a time. Upgrade to a paid subscription to make sure you never miss out on the really good stuff.
The Love letter keeps finding me.
In 2020 I produced Love Letters to Movement Leaders with my work wife, Laura Li. The final product was a community curriculum and thirty-two pages of love letters written by contemporary voices in the Asian American movement to a variety of Movement Leaders. Our hope was that the project might deepen relationships with the work and legacy of those who came before us and with each other. And it did. Love Letters to Movement Leaders reached far beyond our audience online and made its way into prisons, an anthology, and community workshops.
Last year in 2022, I was one of six writers who were selected by an international jury to write for Disegno x Het Nieuwe Instituut’s 2022 Design Drafts programme. I proposed a love letter format to address the gamification and neoliberalism of “design for good.” At the time I was devouring Sister Love: The Letters of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker. I loved the way these two radical women simultaneously held and pushed each other in their correspondence. I was paired with Nanjala Nyabola to workshop my love letter. Nanjala encouraged me to lean into the letter format and find my voice in a way that was never available to me in academic writing.
Fast forward to a few months ago, in August 2023, my friend Ramy invited me to write a piece for their storytelling showcase, Dear Lover / Dear Habibi. He explained that he wanted to create space for SWANA queers to write open love letters to our community. I almost immediately knew I wanted to write to Sarah Hegazy. I’ve spent the last few weeks workshopping my letter with Ramy trying to find the right words to talk to and about Sarah. I have learned how powerful love letters can be because they create space for us to witness one another.
While finalizing my writing, I saw the love letter surface again.
Amidst many different calls to action, a constant ask is that at minimum we bear witness to and document the stories and voices of Palestinians. Hala Alyan recently wrote an important piece for the New York Times where she notes the power of Palestinian narrative work. Right now, queer Palestinians are documenting their love and their lives with the “Queering The Map” digital platform. It is both heart-wrenching and an honor to read through their entries.
xo
Bianca
Dear Lover/ Dear Habibi • Public Performance October 26th, 7pm - 9pm
Los Angeles LGBT Center
Organized by Ramy El-Etreby as part of the 2023 Circa: Queer Histories Festival, presented by One Institute. Join us for an evening of live storytelling featuring seven local LGBTQ+ artists/storytellers from the Southwest Asian/North African (SWANA) diaspora performing and reciting original letters, poems, songs, and stories of love and loss, light and shadow, heartbreak and healing, exaltation and despair, decay and renewal.
Doors open at 6:30 PM. Performance begins at 7:00 PM
For more information please RSVP through the One Institute/CIRCA website.
Thank you to everyone who joined us over the last week for our healing spaces for Palestine at GenQ. It was wonderful to be able to ground and connect with one another. For those of you in Los Angeles, Saffron Cowboy is hosting another space this evening with Rotana, specifically for SWANA/MENA folks.
☎️ 5 Calls App
📰 Hala Alyan
💌 Love Letters to Movement Leaders
📚 Sister Love
📝 Design Drafts: A Love Letter
🧿 Dear Lover / Dear Habibi RSVP
📖 Nanjala Nyabola
🗺 Queering The Map: Gaza
💛 Sarah Hegazy
🕊 LA : SWANA/MENA Grief Circle