 Courtesy of Mikki Vargas Perhaps it's become a cliche to bring in Audre Lorde's epic quote on self-care, but this is one cliche that cannot be oversstated: "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." As trans and gender nonconforming people, especially TGNC folks of color, our bodies and our selves are often in the crosshairs of political warfare. Countless times, we have been used as wedge issues in elections, as tokens that are patronized only when our presence makes cis people and institutions look good, and as the bodies which cishet men violate and take out their insecurities and internalized hatred on. So caring for ourselves and loving ourselves is radical. Our existence is radical. Our healing is radical. Loving each other is radical. So I choose to work on loving and caring for myself better, so I can love and care for my trans and gender nonconforming siblings better.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov
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 On day 29 of #TransLoveNov, I send my love to the tome of a book, "Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community." A massively collaborative creation, the book includes sections on health, legal issues, race and ethnicity, history, theory, and more. Contributors include trans folks writing on the topical areas of their expertise, so there are authors, legal advocates, technologists, artists, organizers, and more. Everything about this book was created by and for trans people, including the grassroots fundraising that happened to make sure this was made. I got two copies, so I could gift one to a friend, and I know of at least two college courses that use it as their main text.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov  On day 28 of #TransLoveNov, I send my love to Angelica Ross. Miss Ross is multi-talented, so perhaps it's a given that she gets to be part of this week twice. I wanted to specifically shout her out today because of one of her songs that I think is easily featured in my imaginary playlist of trans anthems. The song is Be Strong and speaks to the seeking of (inner/external) strength so many of us experience, and hearing it brings a calm into my heart and mind.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov  On day 27 of #TransLoveNov, I send love to Buff Butch. Created by professional boxer Pat Manuel (who I got to go through the Brown Boi Project March 2013 Leadership Retreat with) and now joined by Edxie Betts, Buff Butch is oppression-free fitness, queering fitness as a revolutionary tool. I've been on the program for over two years now and it has brought a new found love for my body and been a consistent (at least when I'm being consistent) source of release from the daily grind and the depression and anxiety I live with. Buff Butch does workshops all the time on how to queer fitness. Now on their QT, Fit, & Lit Tour, folks at colleges and universities should bring Buff Butch to help make your campus gyms safer and more comfortable for queer, gender nonconforming, and/or trans bodies.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov  On day 26 of #TransLoveNov, I send love to Trans*H4CK. Created by Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Trans*H4CK utilizes the creation of technologies to economically empower and improve the lives of trans and gender nonconforming people, while increasing the visibility of trans and gender nonconforming tech innovators and entrepreneurs. For example, from the Trans*H4CK that was hosted in Chicago, RAD Remedy was born, a resource dedicated to connecting trans, gender nonconforming, intersex, and queer folks to accurate, safe, respectful, and comprehensive care. Colleges and universities with resources and investments for queer and trans inclusion in STEM should seriously consider collaborating with Kortney to host a Trans*H4CK on their campus.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov
On day 25 of #TransLoveNov, I send love to TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. Providing "a high-profile venue for innovative research and scholarship that contest the objectification, pathologization, and exoticization of transgender lives," TSQ is an interdisciplinary journal that fills a massive gap in the academic world. The journal puts academia in conversation with artists, activists, scholars, and diverse trans communities around the world. Topics covered include decolonization, critiquing political economy, trans biopolitics, trans pedagogies, and more. The first issue has become my go-to for citing terminology that much of the cis academic world does not recognize, giving our evolving language legitimacy and historicity.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov  On day 24, I send my love to Original Plumbing. OP was the first magazine I came across that focused on trans male people, views, and aesthetics. The brain child of photographer Amos Mac and performer Rocco Kayiatos, OP comes out quarterly and adds a dash of beauty and gentleness into the zine world, along with a few cute hats and shirts to sport in between issues. I have every single issue so far and am looking forward to getting the next one (#18 on bathrooms) in the mail soon.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov  The final week of #TransLoveNov goes to all the amazing cultural artifacts and technologies that brilliant trans and gender nonconforming people are creating for ourselves and our kin. The first day of that week has to go to Her Story, the amazing and groundbreaking web series looking inside the dating lives of trans women - you can watch the first season for free on YouTube. They were nominated for this year's Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Drama or Comedy Series and won Best Drama at the New York TV Festival. Since then Angelica Ross has appeared on The Daily Show highlighting her creation of Trans Tech Social Enterprises and also won Best Actress (Drama) at the New York TV Festival. Both Angelica and Jen Richards will be appearing in Laverne Cox's new show Doubt, and Jen will also be joining Nashville when the new season starts up in 2017. I can't wait to see all the works-in-progress these two have going right now!
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov  On day 22 of #TransLoveNov, I send my love to Adam. Adam is one of those amazingly special individuals who loves deeply, gives great hugs, lets you crash on his couch on the regular, and makes the best chais. He's one of those people that doesn't befriend or defriend out of popularity, but out of care and self-care. Thank you for your friendship Adam. And the chais.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov  On day 21 of #TransLoveNov, I send my love to S. Dr. S Simmons has been part of my Chicago and doctoral journey from the beginning. Actually, from right before it really started as S was assigned as my "buddy" during the application process. Since then we've written together, started the T*Circle Collective and organized our first convening this past March, and defended our dissertations. S's dissertation is the first study about the experiences of trans and gender nonconforming student affairs practitioners. S works at the University of Illinois Chicago's Gender and Sexuality Center and dappers up the world with bowtie tying workshops! S is my comrade, my brother, my friend.
With love and in solidarity #TransLoveNov |
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