“I don’t know if I believe in healing anymore” — EBB
“Where does whiteness end… and theology begin?” — Brandi Miller
“Theology is human speech, and not God speaking” — James H. Cone
- You ever wake up in the middle of the night seething with rage at the church, which you left more than 10 years ago?
- It’s weird because you presumed you were 100% over it as you are living your big queer life like it’s all you’ve ever known.
- But you’re still pissed at Christians, especially white Christians (and super especially the ones who unequivocally support Trump). You…
When I was in academia, my professors and mentors hammered into me the necessity of citing the work of others that have informed my claims of knowledge. Not doing so would mean committing the sin of plagiarism. Citing is standard practice in academia, as giving due credit to people’s intellectual property is supposed to lead to those people getting jobs, tenure, grants, book deals, and other professional opportunities. It’s not that simple and doesn’t always happen that way due to a tangle of institutional inequity; however, not citing was certainly not an option.
Citing others also situates yourself within current…
By E.T. RUSSIAN
A comic in six panels in black, lavender and mustard yellow ink.
Panel 1: A person with a mustard yellow hat, is in a wheelchair transferring into bed and says into the phone: “Hey, I don’t think I can make it to the protest. I’ve got some skin breakdown. I need to stay on bedrest.” A person in a lavender hat holding a protest sign that reads “Immigrants pick your oranges” responds over the phone: “Wow ok. No problem. There’s lot of ways to contribute to the movement. Right?”
Panel 2: Person in wheelchair responds: “Right?! Aurora…
By Frances Lee
Notes: This is a written version of a spoken piece I performed for Performance & Belonging: Citizenship, Culture & Identity, a graduate class taught by Professor Jade Power-Sotomayor at the University of Washington Bothell.
Citations created using Medium superscripts and the Anchor Links Chrome extension.
One night, my partner and I
Were on the couch looking at data
About the overrepresentation of East Asian students
At top universities in the US.
I brought it up because I was just told that As a Person of Chinese descent, I couldn’t be part of my campus organization for Underrepresented…
By E.T. RUSSIAN
A four panel comic in black, lavender and mustard yellow ink.
Panel 1: Two people float in inner tubes on a lake on a sunny day. A mountain and sky are on the horizon.
Panel 2: Friend one: “Dude, the sun feels so good”
Panel 3: Friend one: “I haven’t floated all Summer.” Friend two responds: “Yah, too busy.”
Panel 4: Friend one: “Yah, we’ve got to do this more.” Friend two: “For sure.”
Main Anthology Page:
We have read your cards
Smudged your entrance
And wrapped your hands in lavender and myrrh
Welcome home
Temperance draws you forward
Sun soaked leaves pave the road you have weathered
Rest your feet in the salt waters of where you were born
There are no wrong ways to live in liberation
It is in everything before that is where we have the missteps
as we find our footing, pain and all.
Welcome to the ashé spa
Your payment is healing
Please relax in knowing that all your past mothers have birthed stars to get to you
And lifted nebulas by your ancestors for this moment
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By E.T. RUSSIAN
A nine panel comic in teal, brown, and black ink.
Panel 1: Image is of a person with black curly hair and glasses. Text reads: You know when running a meeting felt like a big deal? Intimidating.
Panel 2: Same person stands in front of a group of people with sign on wall that reads “AGENDA”. Person says: “Hey guys, I have an idea.”
Panel 3: Text: Next thing you know, you’re founding an organization. Person with black curly hair seated next to two other people, they say “Welcome! We’d love your input.” They are sitting in…
By Alicia Garza
Republished with permission from the author
I was 15 when I first started cutting myself.
I remember it well. I was in high school and was trying to figure out who I was. Being one of a handful of Black teenagers in a predominantly white high school and community was not easy. I rebelled against my parents, who were strict and had high expectations of me. One afternoon, all of my insecurities, rebellion, and experimentation with drugs and alcohol put me in hot water. I was with a friend in a Long’s Drug Store and decided that…
Scar tissue runs lightning bolts across the spaces on your hands use to grip too tight,
runs heartbeat solid across your feet
Your knees rough and bruised, can still taste the dirt
The sunshine, is the only thing that holds you properly now,
As you take the first step out of surveillance
Give it a minute your eyes will re-adjust
Main Anthology Page:
I am completely entrenched in progressive and activist spaces in the US, and while I’m still here (and still queer), I harbor a great deal of ambivalence about how things continue to operate around here. Our movements’ communication strategies are largely dependent on stirring up emotion to drive people to action. Empathy is the feeling we demand most from our allies; without its evidence, we despair that our efforts are ineffective. However, I am convinced that empathy is an incomplete theory of change that we must be willing to set aside. …
