welovezines:

Three months in creation, I proudly present you Muchacha Fanzine’s fifth issue “Brown Queen: Latina Voices of the 21st Century”. Intended to honor, celebrate and promote the artistic visions of Latinas, this 50 pg edition features beautiful poetry, heartfelt short stories, powerful essays, awe-aspiring artwork, unique photography and a breathtaking performance piece from 24 diverse self-identified Latinas, Chicanas, Hispanics and Afro-Latinas. This issue also spotlights a 5-page interview with artist Cristy C. Road about her most recent graphic novel Spit and Passion, zine subcultures between the 90’s and now, spirituality and how she has learned to navigate her identity as a queer punk woman of color.

Get your copy here!

4:11 pm  •  22 May 2013  •  13 notes

seriouslyamerica:

Meet the fourth-grader who has been dubbed “The Michael Moore of the Grade-School Lunchroom” by the New York Times, Zachary Maxwell:

Like many things in the life of a fourth grader, Zachary’s movie started as a dispute with his parents. He told them that he wanted to start packing his own lunch, but they were skeptical. Lunch is free at his school, P.S. 130 Hernando De Soto in Little Italy, and his parents liked the look of the Department of Education’s online menus, which describe delicious meals, full of whole grains and fresh vegetables, some even designed by celebrity chefs.

…

In the film, Zachary, who is not above cheesy costumes and goofy special effects, makes a point that is under the radar of most conversations about the quality of school lunches: that despite the Education Department’s efforts to improve nutrition, there is a disconnect between the wholesome meals described on school menus and the soggy, deep-fried nuggets frequently dished up in the lunchrooms.

This kid is going places.

(via harrrymonster)

12:20 am  •  22 May 2013  •  307 notes

justoneboi:

thestreetmag:

ARE YOU A SELF IDENTIFED WOMAN OF COLOR?
Guerillera Collective needs you! Guerillera Collective is a safe space created as a way for WOC/QWOC to have a place where they can talk about:

sex
womanism
Xicanismo
Muxerismo
feminism
race
repoductive rights
music
art
poetry
culture
stories
your own little desires
those little things that annoy you!
etc.


it’s just a fun safe space for all WOC to come together, a collective of badass WOC

this space is queer/trans/gender non-conforming friendly.
no racism/prejudice/transphobia/homophobia/xenophobia/hate aloud in this space.

Please signal boost!

BOOST!!!

(via teenytinychild)

12:50 pm  •  21 May 2013  •  592 notes

mimisot:

durnesque-esque:

thehippiejew:

extrafeisty:

jaycubs:

A Glasgow nightclub has installed a two-way mirror which allows male revellers in private booths to spy on unsuspecting women as they visit the toilet! With no notification or signage anywhere in the venue many female club goers have been left feeling embarrassed and used. Although they do briefly show the mirrors in a promo video, the club has been quickly deleting comments and posts on their social media from club goers trying to alert others to the situation. This is pretty much illegal and hugley violates privacy. Thank you The Shimmy Club for giving us a shiny, new, creative and cool take on objectification.
article here

i’m never leaving my house again, this world is just too fucked up.

WHAT!?

gross gross gross gross gross

Good morning disgusting.

Remember ladies:

• “No space, leave the place” (fingernail test)
• A two way mirror must be set INTO the wall, not placed on top of it.
• If you rap/knock against the mirror, one installed onto a wall (a normal mirror) will make a dull sound, because there’s something behind it. A two-way will have more reverberation.
• Use the flashlight on your phone to shine on the mirror, if it’s a two-way, you’ll be able to see into the other room.
• You can also shield your eyes and see in if you lean up against the glass.
• The room being viewed will have to be brightly lit (10x brighter than the room looking in), so if you’re in a typical dimly lit club bathroom, you’re ok.

im so fucking angry

(via motorcitykitty)

5:33 pm  •  20 May 2013  •  29,360 notes

apihtawikosisan:

sincerelysarita:

Nineteen-year-old Tarikuwa Lemma is a survivor, of an international adoption scandal. When she was 13, she was effectively sold from her native Ethiopia to an American family. The corrupt “adoption agency” convinced her father, who was a widow, that Tarikuwa and her younger sisters were headed to the U.S. as part of an educational exchange program, and that they would return home every summer and on holiday breaks. Little did he know, his daughters had been placed with adoptive couples in the U.S., never to return. Tarikuwa’s name was changed against her will, and she was forbidden by her American “family” from speaking her native language. The issue of transnational adoption, its evangelical Christian component, and the exploitation of communities that sometimes results, is the subject of the book, The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the New Gospel of Adoption by Kathryn Joyce, who appeared, along with Tarikuwa, on last Sunday’s “Melissa Harris Perry” show on MSNBC. Below is Tarikuwa’s satirical look at the “rescue” of children from her home country, to “better lives” in America.

clutchmag:

Stop ‘Rescuing’ African Children Through Corrupt Adoptions

Tarikuwa Lemma appearing on Melissa Harris Perry Show April 28, 2013.

From The Grio — Nineteen-year…

View Post

Doesn’t seem to matter the background of the child, the methods of colonialism and assimilation haven’t changed.

(via onearetwoesses)

8:28 pm  •  19 May 2013  •  4,182 notes

homoarigato:

Our idea to create The B.Steady Project started the way most great ideas come about: with good food, good music, and best friends. We (Chey, Clara, Jai, and Lane) were hanging out one day and listening to one of our favorite queer brown musicians, B.Steady, who is a Washington D.C. based artist and YouTube sensation. Often sharing space together as brown queer artists ourselves, our conversations surround the salient issues that effect our communities. So it wasn’t out of the ordinary when we thought: what if we brought B.Steady to perform at the Twin Cities pride festival? And from there is where this project began. From there the four of us began meeting regularly to network, organize all of the logistics of our fundraiser, and figure out how to get folks to donate.

The B.QullecTivE, or the Brown Queer & Trans* Empowerment Collective, is a new community organization operating out of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. After beginning The B.Steady Project back in the end of February 2013, we realized that our work could go above and beyond this fundraiser alone. We realized that we could make spaces that people like us truly needed- space to learn, to create, collaborate, vent, and -most importantly- space to just *be*. And that’s what we’re all about.

Our Mission:

The Brown Queer and Trans* Empowerment Collective strives to support the social, organizational, political, economic, educational, spiritual, and creative needs of queer/trans* communities of color in Minnesota.

Our Core Beliefs:

We believe every queer and trans* person of color has the right to safe spaces;

We believe every queer and trans* person of color deserves access to life resources such as housing, employment, education, transportation, healthcare, and creative spaces.

We believe that our struggles are interdependent upon each other. None of our needs can be met without an intersectional approach to supporting our racial, sexual and gender identities;

We believe that empowerment will come through communal organization.
______________________________________

Check out our Facebook and Tumblr for more info on The B.QullecTivE, us- the founders, and community events and news. If you wish to contact the B.QullecTivE, we would love to hear from you! Please email us at b.qullective@gmail.com.

Also learn more about B.Steady! Jam out to her music on Youtube or Soundcloud, check out her Facebook and Tumblr
for updates on her performances, and buy her music on Amazon
or iTunes.

Thank you all for supporting brown queer and trans* communities by donating to this project and The B.QullecTivE!

(via navigatethestream)

12:23 pm  •  18 May 2013  •  11 notes

imnotcaradelevingne:

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young with a drawing by a child locked in the Manus Island detention centre concentration camp.

As always when it comes to racism, the two major parties displayed beautiful bipartisan unity today and legislated to remove the Australian mainland from the migration zone.

This insane, bizarre, disgusting, cruel new policy means that all asylum seekers will now be sent offshore upon arriving here. If you want to know the reality of that, I suggest you watch the recent, eye-opening, secretly filmed Four Corners investigation into Australia’s offshore processing facilites.

(via harrrymonster)

11:28 am  •  16 May 2013  •  183 notes

tranqualizer:

[photo: image of a Black homeless man wearing a white t shirt and holding a white Abercrombie and fitch branded t shirt in front of him.]

Why Fitch the Homeless is a Really Bad Idea

In response to some comments made by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries about not wanting large people in A&F clothes because he prefers “attractive…cool kids” in A&F clothes, there’s been a pretty big backlash, which is understandable. Most recently, I’ve learned about some “activism” aimed at giving Abercrombie and Fitch a “brand readjustment’” by giving Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to the homeless.

Because wouldn’t it be so awful for Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to be associated with homelessness and homeless people, because homeless people are so gross and disgusting, amirite? The video above says that it is striving to make Abercrombie and Fitch “the #1 brand of homeless apparel”. Maybe you’re thinking there’s no issue here because at least homeless people are getting some new duds and they were purchased from Goodwill, so what’s the big deal?

The big deal comes in when homeless people are being exploited to prove a point. Many homeless people are already widely disenfranchised and lacking a platform to be heard or to get access to the resources they need. By attempting to make a brand look bad by associating it with homelessness, the message is that homeless people are so gross, dirty, shameful (insert negative attribute here) that by associating the brand with these types of people, we are really making the brand look shitty, because these people are so shitty! get it? It’s all such a laugh! This type of “activism” is a farce. It contributes to and propagates a culture wherein homeless people can be used as props to further an agenda. This isn’t how you treat people. This is how you treat disposable objects. It isn’t funny, noble, or helpful to try and stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch by using homeless people as the medium for your message. Would the American population at large be comfortable with any other minority group being used to make a brand look “bad” by associating their clothing with that group? Sub out “homeless” for any other minority group and see how that sounds and feels. Pretty shitty, right?

Giving clothing, food, needed sundries, time, and other resources to the homeless or people who are in need is an awesome thing. But this isn’t about giving to the homeless. I don’t see any real or actual concern for homeless people in this “movement”. I see homeless people being used as the butt of a joke. The punchline? “Hahaha Abercrombie! You want cool and attractive people in your clothes and you claim to be exclusionary, so we’re going to give your clothes to homeless people because you would hate that!” The implication here is that homeless people are not cool or attractive and the brand can’t be exclusionary when worn by an already excluded group. This only “works” because homeless people are already part of an othered and excluded group, often left out of mainstream society, denied access to basic resources and the ability to have their needs met. Can’t.Stop.Laughing.

People who want to give to the homeless can do so at any time. Do it today! But giving a certain brand of clothing to the homeless in an attempt to make that brand of clothing look bad or unsavory or less-than-desirable is only possible when the population or group receiving the clothing carries the stigma you are trying to attach to that label. This doesn’t make Abercrombie and Fitch look bad. This makes Greg Karber and everybody supporting this “activism” look like an insensitive douche canoe who thinks homeless people are disposable props to be used to further an agenda, and that’s pretty sad and disappointing. Wanna help the homeless? Try not furthering the stigma surrounding homelessness by insisting that a brand being associated with homelessness would surely be less desirable or wanted. Wanna stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch? Easy Peasy! Don’t give them your money! It’s a simple solution that doesn’t involve stepping on the backs of the homeless in place of a soapbox.

(click through the link to watch the youtube video)

(via amaevis)

6:17 pm  •  15 May 2013  •  1,631 notes

thisisthinprivilege:

(mod note: I am not reblogging this directly due to the images of horrifying and potentially triggering fat-hate - Fatanarchy)

This Indiana University of PA student is being consistently bullied to kill herself or lose weight. Campus and local authorities will do nothing.

4:51 pm  •  14 May 2013  •  131 notes

repetition-is-holy:

crunkfeministcollective:

Shit people say to sick and disabled queers,
And shit sick and disabled queers say (to each other, to other people, to themselves)
And repeat!

This is fantastic and funny and exactly right and full of great people (and my hero Leah Lakshmi). And I say this as someone who took her antidepressants and anti-inflammatories and fibro meds this morning and is on her way out for therapy.

11:06 am  •  14 May 2013  •  294 notes

janetmock:

“We are all victims of violence and the injustices and oppression of a faulty legal system and the PIC. And in memoriam of all our fallen sisters, this is for you! Our flames of resilience and tenacity burn bright in the efforts of a revolution for women. We will not give up…

(via navigatethestream)

11:16 am  •  13 May 2013  •  87 notes

brbnightmares:

deeplezstonerwitch:

ok so, here’s a lil tutorial for big booty babes who have a pair of leggings that won’t make it over yr lumps
1. take out the elastic from the first pair of leggings. a seam ripper would be totally useful. i didn’t show this part, because all leggings will be different, but basically you just need to figure out how the material is sewn AROUND the elastic, and remove this elastic… this will also, most likely, expose some extra material which will be useful!
2. cut the waistband off of something that is around the same circumference. i used a skirt that i don’t really wear that much, but use whatever you want! the size of the waistband only matters in that it needs to extend the length of your leggings enough to fit over yr butt. the circumference matters because if it’s a really different size, the leggings will bunch around it when you sew them together but, it’s not a huge deal really. you can also use a wide elastic cut to the same size as the leggings, or you could buy some similar patterned/coloured stretchy material if that’s more your jam. 
3. (the last 3 images show this and the next step) place the RIGHT SIDES of the leggings and the waistband together. the right side is the side that you want to be showing. you want to line up the bottom (cut) edge of your waist band to the top edge of your leggings. use pins to keep them in place.
4. use a sewing machine to sew along these edges. using a serger would be a nice touch, but totally not necessary. you could also sew by hand if you’re into that.
5. give a big FUCK YOU to fatphobia and stores not being willing to stock larger sizes by wearing this out and proud! 

PS: even though this tutorial is sorta obvious and straightforward, and maybe doesn’t even need to be written up, i’m just doing this so that fat folks who have some clothes that don’t fit properly feel empowered to turn these ill-fitting clothes into something they can actually wear and feel good in <3 

This is awesome and cannot believe I never thought of this.

Just an aside, this is helpful for Very Tall Women and trans women too, since there are often major inseam issues in addition to butt size/location issues!!! Doing this to anything would really make a pair of leggings you can only wear twice (because they rip to hell in the crotch) into leggings that just  FIT.

A++++

Dude, fuck pants.

11:05 pm  •  12 May 2013  •  129 notes

fromonesurvivortoanother:

lots of love this mother’s day for everyone who has a complex relationship with their mom, everyone who has ceased communication with their mom for reasons of self-preservation, and every person whose mom is deceased

(via theprophetlilith)

1:02 pm  •  12 May 2013  •  21,446 notes

lesbianese:

Friendly reminder that loving and/or wanting to fuck fat people isn’t radical or kinky or alternative. 

(via theprophetlilith)

11:36 am  •  12 May 2013  •  58 notes

hoaxzine:

Mother’s Day has a reputation as a cheesy commercial holiday complete with flower bouquets, Hallmark cards, Godiva chocolate and Build-A-Bears. But, believe it or not, this holiday was actually founded as a radical feminist anti-war protest! Julia Ward Howe was an American abolitionist and social activist who began advocating for a mother’s day for peace in 1870. She was sickened by the destruction and carnage of the Civil & Franco-Prussian Wars and began thinking about what women could do to benefit humanity. Howe sought to find a way for women to express what she believed to be an innate motherly love for human beings. She believed that being a mother was an experience powerful enough to prevent any woman from wanting to watch her sons risk their lives to fight in a war. She aimed to provide an alternative female voice of peace and began holding anti-war conferences both in the United States and Britain. Beginning in 1872, she proclaimed every June 2nd as Mother’s Day for Peace, a day in which woman all over the world would come together and envision strategies for social change. The following is an excerpt from her Mother’s Day Proclamation:

“Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: ‘We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.’ From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says ‘Disarm! Disarm!’ The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. As men have forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead…”

Howe’s vision wasn’t recognized until decades later when Anna Jarvis picked up on this idea. Jarvis was also an active feminist who viewed homemaker’s rights as essential. She had recently lost her own mother who, like Howe, was active in women’s circles and adamantly believed that motherhood could be used as a healing tool, In her mother’s honor, Jarvis campaigned for almost a decade to dedicate a day of the year in order to honor the work of all mothers. She chose a Sunday because she wanted it to be a “holy” day rather than not a holiday, and the second Sunday in May because it was the anniversary of her own mother’s death. Appreciating one’s own mother was less radical than protesting war and this incarnation of Mother’s Day became a movement. Mother’s Day services soon began being held in all U.S. states and in 1914, President Wilson made it an official national holiday!

Jarvis quickly became fed up with the commercialization of a national Mother’s Day. She threatened major lawsuits and engaged in acts of protest for the rest of her life. Of course, Jarvis’ frustrations were and continue to be beyond reasonable. Still, while the holiday drastically deviated from the visions of Jarvis and Howe, the value of “women’s work” was elevated to a higher level than it had ever previously been. This helped to pave the way for countless strides improving the American conception of the labor of motherhood.

Sources:

· “Julia Ward Howe: The Woman Behind Mother’s Day.” Interview by Amy Goodman

· Ivory Madison. “Mother’s Day for Peace: A Dramatic Reading of Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation.”

· The Ottowa Citizen. “Battling the Mother’s Day Monster.”

- by rachel, hoax #4 

(via welovezines)

10:42 am  •  12 May 2013  •  48 notes