string a zither across your navel.
update
things that are happening in my life right now:
- speaking at take root: red state perspectives on reproductive justice in one week. i need to prepare!
- starting a tamalera with my partner Liz. we have the name, logo, recipes, and other logistics in the works! this project is for ourselves and our community; it’s helping us reconnect with our roots, while bringing in that radical queer chicana vibe to predominately white spaces in north texas. COMING SOON
- farm apprenticeship interview tomorrow, i hope i get it! this means i would be living at the farm and helping with daily production, distribution of the CSA, and volunteers. it will be physically challenging and i am ready to take on something that i’m not fully knowledgeable about.
- applying for food stamps, trying to keep it together, trying to stay positive.
- sowed 154 seedlings with Liz and Annie for the edible garden
- needing to get herbs for the herb garden?
- need to finish letters
- for the past 2 weeks i have been waking up not feeling competent or motivated enough and i need to remind myself that i’m doing just fine.
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Check out this legit interview with Bianca, one of the speakers at this year’s Take Root: Red State Perspectives on Reproductive Justice Conference.
oklahomans for reproductive justice interviewed me.
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I made this about.me to start my doula services! Real website will be in the works at a later date.
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balanced
i feel at ease and balanced for the first time in months, years?
the internet is too intense for me right now,
i like the people and ideas but it is too aggressive.
all i would like to do is dream big and work with my hands.
hold a book, write notes, and feel the words through my body.
going for walks, scheme all day, and write letters.
my time out in the pacific north west was incredible and i can’t stop thinking about how happy i was. there’s nothing like the big evergreens, slithers of sunshine, and folks taking you in with their arms wide open. i fell in love with the area and am happy to know that i have handfuls of people that would like me to visit.
i want to connect with people in the most honest ways possible.
i have plans that are not job related but make me happy.
all i need to do is figure out how to make $600 a month and i will be just fine.
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whenever someone tells me to “breathe” i want to scream, because the phrase reminds me of pain. “breathe” is the equivalent to abusive partners trying to calm you down after anxiety attacks that they have initiated. it is not helpful, and its association is too solid for me to break down sometimes, this form of silencing. but throughout yoga and mindfulness and anxiety practices they want you to breathe. breathe in through your nose and exhale, they say.
i can’t help but feel guilty when i tell this to other people. i hate when people tell me to breathe, but when i do it for myself it feels so good and i feel weightless and empowered and i want them to feel the same thing. if i ever tell you to breathe it’s not because i am trying to silence you, i just want you to embrace it and feel what it’s like for your chest to rise and fall and when you close your eyes, a new person can emerge. at least for the evening.
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i want to cuddle up next to liz and play with her hair and take a bath together.
i’m doing what i need to do in Tennessee, but it’s been three weeks since we have spent time together and I miss her. by the time I get back into Texas it will be four and a half weeks. she asked me “what do you keep running from?” when i left again. i’m honestly still thinking about that question.
i can be such a fucking romantic it makes me want to puke. (i hope she feels similarly)
2 notes
Hey Take Rooters! Check out this interview written by one of your fellow Take Rooters. It focuses on the experiences of our friends from Texas at the 2012 Take Root conference. Hope you enjoy!
Happy New Year Take Rooters!
To celebrate the New Year we interviewed past conference attendees to see what they are excited about for this upcoming conference. At the 2012 Take Root conference a group of around 30 Texans participated, mostly coming from the North Texas area. Their attendance was a huge surprise and their voices aided in the discussion of reproductive justice organizing in red states. This year, Texas organizers plan on bringing more individuals in order to take part in their favorite Southern conference.
Brooke, Sarah, and Maryam come from South, Central, and North Texas, bringing together all of their varying identities and perspectives on participating in reproductive justice work in North Texas.
Why do you think having this conference is important?
Sarah: It’s a red state perspective on reproductive justice, which I think is really important. Having the reproductive justice conference in the framework of living in a red state is different than anything I had ever read or heard of. I didn’t even know that that was happening, or that was a thing that happened.
Maryam: That there was solidarity, in like a concentrated effort.
Sarah: When I found out about the conference it was after I worked with clinic defense and clinic escorting in Ft. Worth. Going through that experience and learning what anti choice protesters were like in Texas, and then going to Oklahoma and having other people sharing similar experiences gave me a hope and inspiration. There were other people doing really awesome things in other places.
How did you find out about the conference?
Brooke: Through the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at University of North Texas, who had great officers that year and found out about this really radical conference in Oklahoma.
Sarah: We would hear about conferences and they were all so far away. When we found out that this really awesome conference was happening in Norman Oklahoma, a 2 to 3 hour drive from us, of course we were going to pile up in our cars and drive because having that so close to us was comforting.
Tell me about some of your experiences from last year. What did you learn? What did you take from it?
Maryam: My highlight for the Take Root conference was the discussion panel where we talked about birth doulas. It was really accessible and people seemed personable; it did not seem like such a far out concept. I like the way that there was common ground because of our background.
Sarah: All of them were really great, I felt like I was learning so much the entire time. One that really stuck out at me was the spirituality, faith, and reproductive justice. I didn’t know other people were having that conversation, so I was very excited that people were talking about this and that there were larger organizations working on a national level. When we did the break out sessions, I went to the student-organizing group and that was really good because we got to talk to other students organizing on their campuses. I remember we talked about Justice For All coming and I never had that conversation with people from red states about how hard it is when organizations like that come to your school.
At the end of the conference, organizers from Texas and Oklahoma unite to take a solidarity photo.
Brooke: I am going to second Sarah on the spirituality, faith, and reproductive justice panel because it was the first time I felt comfortable talking about how I am a Christian who is really adamant about reproductive justice. Of all the conferences I’ve been to, I did not have to leave the Mason-Dixon line to get to this really, radical place. This conference is respectful to peoples identities, there were critiques of capitalism – all happening in the South and it was just beautiful. To be around people from the south, to be around all these radical people, I was really happy to have the opportunity to go.
What are some differences between this conference and other conferences that you’ve been to?
Sarah: When I went to Take Root, I felt that somehow those resources were more tangible.
Maryam: A lot of resources are not located in the South or close by. The ones we got from Take Root have personal accounts of them, the distance and the familiarity of the hostility.
Brooke: Beautiful, openly queer people. Some other conferences I went to never mentioned class, never mentioned any thing out of the gender binary. It was refreshing to go to Take Root and to know that this was a conference that it wasn’t big and flashy; it was a place where you saw more of a movement.
Maryam: More community.
Brooke: I saw a safe space. I felt like I wasn’t going to be judged. That’s supposed to be how a conference should be and that’s how you’re going to get things done.
When you talk about community. Do you feel like you met a lot of people and made adequate networks and friends for future organizing at Take Root?
Maryam: I feel like I can call people I met from Take Root more so than other conferences, it just feels more familiar and welcoming.
Sarah: When I went to this other conference I felt like I was in queer Disneyland. It’s great and a beautiful thing, but when I saw these queers of Norman, it just seemed to me really brave.
Maryam: It was stronger. In the Northeast it was just like “this is how it is”, which is awesome, I wish that’s how it is. But with Take Root participants, they are working in the South together and all queer together. It seems stronger and more of an accountable community because it’s so small.
What would you like to see in this year’s conference? What are you excited about?
Sarah: Ugh, Loretta Ross!! Also, I’m excited to go to more panels about the environment and reproductive justice. I think I’m going to try to go to the panels that I know least about because last year I learned so much.
Maryam: I’m looking forward to discussion and being more vocal. I think the set up of the conference was genuine and accessible. I didn’t think they made people feel dumb for asking questions, and sometimes these conversations are so academic, but I found it to be more accessible.
Would you say that take root has aided in your radicalization?
Sarah: Yes, I would like to say that I was on this tipping point and Take Root made me take this beautiful free fall down.
YESSSS FOREVER. Blog post I wrote for Take Root.
5 notes (via takerootrj)
— Hey, hippie girl, you Mexican? On both sides?
— Front & back, I say.
— You sure don’t look Mexican.
A part of me wants to kick their ass. A part of me feels sorry for their stupid ignorant selves. But if you’ve never been farther south than Nuevo Laredo, how the hell would you know what Mexicans are supposed to look like, right?
There are the green-eyed Mexicans. The rich blond Mexicans. The Mexicans w/the faces of Arab sheiks. The Jewish Mexicans. The big-footed-as-a-German Mexicans. The leftover-French Mexicans. The chaparrito compact Mexicans. The Tarahumara tall-as-a-desert-saguaro Mexicans. The Mediterranean Mexicans. The Mexicans w/Tunisian eyebrows. The negrito Mexicans of the double coasts. The Chinese Mexicans. The curly-haired, freckled-faced, red-headed Mexicans. The Lebanese Mexicans. Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say I don’t look Mexican. I am Mexican. Even though I was born on the U.S. side of the border.
”Sandra Cisneros “Caramelo” (via honeybrown)
To my anon who said I don’t look Palestinian enough for you. Fuck you.
(via amiiira)
4,135 notes (via fuckyeahxicanapower & honeybrown)
Please help out my dear dear friend!!
Information
On New Year’s Eve, our friend Alex C-G was violently arrested at a noise demonstration in solidarity with prisoners at Cook County Jail. Alex will have a bond hearing on New Years Day @ 11am @ 26th and California, and we intend to bond them out as quickly as possible.
Alex is active in Palestine solidarity work through Punks Against Apartheid, has worked with youth in Chicago, and has supported past solidarity actions for prisoners.
All money raised will go directly to bailing Alex out and to any legal expenses incurred. We know that Cook County Jail is a horrific place to spend New Years, and we want to free Alex as quickly as possible. Thank you for your support!
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UPDATE as of 1/1/2013 12pm: We have found that Alex was taken to Maywood last night, which is the HQ of the Cook County Sheriffs Dept. There is no holiday bond court in Maywood, and they were not brought to 26th and California today, so it seems that the earliest bond hearing will be Wed Jan 2nd. An NLG lawyer will try to visit Alex this afternoon and also get more info on what the charges may be and the time and place for the bond hearing. Thank you to all who have donated and spread the word!
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UPDATE as of 1/1/2013 8pm
An NLG lawyer was able to meet with Alex today in the Maywood lockup. They are in decent spirits, considering the circumstances, and expressed much gratitude for the donations and support. Alex will have a bond hearing at 26th and California, Room 100, on 1/2/2013 (Wed.) at 11:30am. The lawyer was also able to ascertain that Alex most likely will be charged with a felony. We will find out the details of the allegation in court. At this time, the best thing we can do is to keep spreading the word and raise funds so that we can get Alex out of jail as quickly as possible. Thank you to all who have already donated or have shared this page with others!
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Update as of 1/2/2013 2pm:
Alex was charged with aggravated battery which is a felony. Their bond was set at $10,000, which means we have to post $1000 to get them out of jail. The earliest bond can be posted is 5pm. Some of us will be there to welcome them and to take them home. It takes several hours to process someone out, so it will most likely be after 8pm at the earliest that Alex will be out. The next hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday, Jan 8th. We will post details later on exact place and time. Thank you for all your support and donations! There will be additional legal expenses in addition to posting bond, so we appreciate continued donations. We know it will mean so much to Alex to know they have such an incredible community surrounding them.
#FreeAlexCG::SIGNAL BOOST::
6 notes (via cicadacicada & kaleicious)
