It feels impossible not to see this Martin Luther King Day as one of grief and mourning. But Dr. King’s soft words were never going to save us. Look to his playbook instead.
“Are you watching white supremacists storm the capitol while eating a bowl of popcorn??”
Lee Daniels’ new film follows the icon through her addiction, jail time, queerness (Natasha Lyonne stars as her lover Tallulah Bankhead!), and her fight with the feds.
What if we all committed to a radical reading list for 2021? What would we learn? And with this, what could we do? This collection of books will set you up with hope and pathways toward radical change in 2021.
Like so many others, I’ve been chirping about the end of 2020, as if the transition from one year to the next will somehow magically suture our open wounds.
In Viola Davis’ hands, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” becomes a complex portrait of a queer Black woman hurricane whose footprints loom large over the last 100 years.
She ran a progressive campaign for Queens DA that put New York’s establishment on notice, and now has NYC Council in sight. “It’s not about good people or bad people, it’s just about people. We need to divest from policing and incarceration and invest in the true sources of safety.”
It has felt hard to state how much I’ve been missing my family lately. But Audre Lorde and Pat Parker’s relationship is a testament to the life-affirming power of queer kinship. Their enduring love attests to the power and beauty of Black queer sisterhood.
I don’t think it matters much whether Avatar: The Last Airbender is “respectful” of Asian culture. I think the show is racist, and also I like it. I’m interested in what we do with the sense of agency it gives us, how it allows us to critique the structures that exist and envision our own worlds.
I originally added this movie to my queue because, well, It was black. I love black people, I adore Christmas and I wanted to check out and support black films and who knows, maybe I would find a new classic. I started watching and quickly realized that not only did it feature a mostly POC cast — IT WAS QUEER!
I love Christmas. I love having a guardian gayngel. And even when the movie is not great, I love a queer Afro-Latina in New York getting her very own Gay Christmas Love Story.
I’ve been told I should try to reclaim my ancestral healing practices, and this is something I would like to do. When I try to learn about Chinese things, it feels performed. I wonder if me learning qigong is any better than white lady yoga.
Black women didn’t save this democracy for you and we don’t need your “Thank Yous.” We need you to follow the example that Black women have set for more than the last 200 years: Roll up your sleeves and get to work. Here’s a few concrete places where you can start.
From actual hexes to binding spells, witchcraft has a long tradition in the fight to dismantle white supremacy. A new generation of Black witches are taking part in the resistance using ancestral practices, ideologies, and modern technology.
To be Black in this world is to be intimate with a kind of living death. It’s an intimacy no one craves, and yet Black people know better than most that Audre Lorde speaks truth to power when she says “we were never meant to survive.”
When it comes to Buddhism and cultural appropriation, I still sometimes worry that I’m making a big deal out of nothing, that I’m angry for no good reason.
The first time I encountered a book with queer characters must have been James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. At the time I remember feeling afraid of its intensity. Now it’s one of my most returned-to books along with Lydia Davis’ The End of the Story.
Made me want to / and I did tap / that ass / many times / made it mine.
The “Ma Rainey” Trailer Drop is THEE most important Black queer pop culture news this week, and I’ve broken down 5 reasons why… then I shall be proceeding directly to my fainting couch.
Growing up, I felt I wasn’t enough. Not white enough. Not Latina enough. I’ve tried to look to my mother’s story as my own missing piece. I’ve made her story into a key that will unlock a feeling of place and belonging. As a writer, I look to stories to guide me.
At my Catholic all-girls middle school, I liked to tell people I was Buddhist. It was my feeble attempt at preteen rebellion. I enjoyed interjecting, “Oh yeah? Well, I don’t believe Jesus was real because I’m Buddhist!”
