studentfreelancer

[studentfreelancer]

“Every relationship of domination, of exploitation, of oppression is by definition violent, whether or not the violence is expressed by drastic means. In such a relationship, dominator and dominated alike are reduced to things - the former dehumanized by an excess of power, the latter by a lack of it. And things cannot love.” —Paulo Freire

Fall Of The Damned by Peter Paul Rubens

[studentfreelancer]

some journal prompts I use

three to five good things that happened today

experiences I welcome into my life

I forgive myself for…

what makes me feel safe

[studentfreelancer]

What kinda pisses me off about that architecture in Africa Twitter thread is that it primarily focuses on European definitions of what “good” architecture is—permanent, typically stone based designed structures that fit a specific sort of aesthetic that can be deemed such. The Somalia section of it in specific is just Italian colonial architecture that has nothing to do with ethnic Somalis but instead an architecture style that was introduced by an imperial force that hardly considered them humans. As to how Somali tent making, which is traditionally very complicated, is not seen as a form of architecture worth talking about is beyond me. I mean even the Smithsonian has a replica of a Somali tent home:

How is this not architecture! It’s a dwelling! It has a planned structure and yes it’s mobile, and yes it can be taken apart when need be but it’s still architecture even if not in the traditional sense. It’s still a complex and designed structure, this isn’t just some random thing people do. And this tent could’ve been used for the majority of someone’s lifetime and yet have been all around the easternmost part of the Horn of Africa along with them. This specific type of dwelling in itself isn’t just Somali but it’s shared by pastoralists going into even Southeast Africa (primarily those speaking Khoe languages) so when we do this whole national architecture thing in Africa we’re both ignoring the various facets and diversity of architecture multiple different ethnic groups have but also the shared history of some constructions that span far beyond drawn up borders.

It’s like people only talk about Africa having anything noteworthy if it’s being used to counter Westerners with parameters of success and worth that they themselves imposed—and it’s done in the dumbest fashion possible.

[studentfreelancer]

ok this is the first time ive ever had to do this but I really need the help right now. i know its going to be hard to get the full amount in the time that I have but any help would benefit me so greatly. i am putting the explanation under the cut as it is very long but TLDR:

I got into the film school of my dreams on a scholarship, but student finance will not pay for the full course fee because my university is independent, (£20k, SF can only pay £14.4k) so I have to pay the remaining fee (£5.6k) by June 1st. I cannot graduate if I don't pay this fee and I am under 2 months away from graduating. all evidence and explanation is under the cut.

gfm is here if the link above doesn't work

thank you to anyone in advance.

I have been studying filmmaking for 2 years at university and I am 2 months away from graduating. I got into this university through a scholarship that reduced the standard course fee in half. Usually, Student Finance/the government will pay for these course fees, but because my university is private, they are unable to pay the fee in full. My course costs £20k and Student Finance will pay £14,400 of this. This means I have to pay £5,600.

Here is the evidence and proof that I did get into my university on a scholarship and what my university offers in terms of fees:

I have been looking for financial support for 2 years (before I even started attending but had a confirmed place) and it has not been enough. I have contacted my local authority for years about the grant I am entitled to as a foster care leaver and the most I could receive was £2,000 that ended up going to paying my gas and electric bills.

I have also gone to many charities to ask them for support and many of the responses I got were "go to your local authority". I did find one charity that was willing to help me but the sponsors of the charity decided that I would receive a laptop and they would pay for the travel costs to my university for a year instead. I am eternally grateful for that but now I have nowhere else to go for this.

I would really appreciate any help I am already having a extremely hard time dealing my current eviction and I am on the verge if being homeless I would just like to get something off my back and I would rather graduate and get this over with. I am still actively working to find places that are willing to help me but in the time that I have now I would appreciate it if I could get something in the meantime.

[studentfreelancer]

love is real and worth it and SO important to me it’s pretty much my entire political spiritual philosophical deal………you can be critical of how romantic love is commodified and dominated by heteronormative myths for sure but ppl out there like “love is fake” aren’t doing ANYTHING interesting or subversive……love is revolutionary bc the systems that oppress us are directly opposed to all kinds of love, interpersonal love and self love etc. they’re trying to drive it out of us. love as an action love as a choice love as something u cultivate and tend to is the best thing in the world and it’s at the absolute centre of my life

[studentfreelancer]

sorry professor i did not do this asisgnemtn becuase i was too sad! NO consequences please. goodbye

[studentfreelancer]

idk how much this made the news in the Americas but the Hellenic coast guard watched as a vessel carrying more than 400 (some estimates say 700) migrants capsized and sank in the Mediterranean. 104 people survived. official death toll is 79 because the rest is missing, and might never be found. There are claims that many children were below deck.

Frontex and the Hellenic Coast Guard was aware of the vessel and the dangerous situation it was in for days, but did not intervene

[studentfreelancer]

mutuals are people u wanna eat bread dipped in olive oil with

[studentfreelancer]

etiquette / tips for interacting with someone who is using aac ( from some one who uses aac ) .

not an exhaustive list . feel free to add on . /gen

do not try to read what they are saying before they say it . ( personally , some one watching my words as I type them or find buttons on my aac is stressful . I feel like I am being rushed . )

similarly , do not guess what they are saying before they are done saying it . ( so , do not " finish my sentences for me " . you are interrupting me speaking , when you do this . )

do not play music or loud noise when some one is using an aac app / device that needs to be heard . ( it feels the same as speaking over , interrupting , or ignoring . )

do not take an aac from some one . ( aac is our voice . taking our aac is like holding your hand over our mouths . )

if some one uses mouth words with you , do not expect constant oral speech from them in the future . ( not all people who use aac are nonspeaking / nonverbal . some people have access to oral speech occasionally . this does not make their use of aac any less needed or valid . )

similarly , please do not have a dramatic reaction , if hearing some one speak for the 1st time . ( more specifically with situational mutism , to some people , the fear of how other people will react to you speaking in front of them for the first time can make it more difficult to speak . giving an unwanted big reaction will only enforce that fear , making oral speech even harder in the future . )

do not treat use of aac like it is an inconvenience to you . ( do not complain about having to wait a bit for a response . do not say that you prefer when some one can use oral speech . )

do not ignore aac users or leave us out of conversations .

do not make fun of aac's voice , how aac pronounces words , how fast / slow the aac reads , or any typos that were made . ( it is the same as bullying some one for their voice or for mis pronouncing a word , when using oral speech . use of aac does not mean lack of voice . or lack of mis pronunciation / mistakes . )

[studentfreelancer]

Hey so my HRT costs $265 usd ($365 if I want to keep certain things working) and that is quite the burden to pay. If anyone can donate to my PayPal it would really help out

My PayPal is petgirl69420

[studentfreelancer]

MOGAI BHM- Day 12!

happy BHM! today i’m going to be talking about queer culture during the Harlem Renaissance!

Queer Culture During the Harlem Renaissance-

[Image ID: A black-and-white photograph of Gladys Bentley, a Black woman. In the photograph, she’s standing at the gate to a bar, wearing an all-white tuxedo- white dress pants, a white undershirt, and a white tuxedo jacket with coattails, as well as a white top hat. She’s carrying a magician’s cane/wand. End ID.]

The Harlem Renaissance was not just a movement that challenged racist norms. It was absolutely a movement of Black pride, but it was also in many ways a movement of Black queer pride. The queer history of the Harlem Renaissance has largely been erased from the world-at-wide’s perception of the Harlem Renaissance, but it was, according to Black professor Henry Louis Gates, “surely as gay as it was Black”.

Because of the fact that the Harlem Renaissance was based on the idea of liberating Black people from restrictive white social standards, sexuality and gender were challenged during this time period. Challenging sexual and gender norms became another outlet of Black liberation- allowing Black queer people to express their racial liberation through a means of sexual liberation.

The Harlem Renaissance came at a time when people were rebelling against Prohibition- so speakeasies became increasingly common. At these speakeasies, performances were held, and the musical nightlife of the Harlem Renaissance that developed in these speakeasies led to the development of Harlem’s queer nightlife- including drag balls.

Called “Spectacles In Color” by Langston Hughes, and commonly referred to as “fairy balls”, Harlem’s queer drag balls were huge extravaganzas. They consisted of both drag kings and drag queens, dressed to the nines, and there were contests for the most lavish costumes and performances. These balls were an explicit, unapologetic celebration of queer identity, and they also involved prizes for winners. A queer Black woman, A’Lelia Walker hosted queer parties and performances at her ‘Dark Tower’ building. Rent parties, cabarets, and other venues also hosted popular opportunities for queer people to convene and grow connections together.

It was also common for some performers to do drag as they performed at nightlife hotspots. Men dressed in long, lavish gowns, and women in tuxedos, and partied and performed together with background dancers also in drag. Perhaps the most famous of these drag performers was Gladys Bentley, a popular blues singer who often performed in full tuxedos. She sang many songs about her female lovers and relationships, and her shows featured drag performers. 

Two other huge blues stars during the Harlem Renaissance were Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith- both of whom frequently and openly sang about their same-sex relationships. Ma Rainey, called “the Mother of Blues”, was arrested once for hosting a lesbian party in her home. In the 1930s, popular Blues singer Lucille Bogan made the song “B.D Woman’s Blues”, in which she sang “comin’ a time, B.D. women they ain’t going to need no men.” Short for ‘bulldager’ and ‘bulldyke’, ‘B.D’ is a Black slang for butch lesbian, and is just one example of the very racialized language of queer identity during this time. As described by queer Black woman Jeanne Flash Gray, a Harlem resident, “we were still Bulldaggers and Faggots… only whites were lesbians and homosexuals.”

Queer culture during the Harlem Renaissance was not at all limited to music and drag balls/performances- it made its way throughout prominent literature during the period. Richard Bruce Nugent, an openly gay Black author from the time period, became famous for many works including his “Smoke, Lilies, and Jade”, which was about a bisexual Black teenager and depicted bisexuality. He described himself saying “You see, I am a homosexual. I have never been in what they call ‘the closet’. It has never occurred to me that [my sexuality] was anything to be ashamed of, and it never occurred to me that it was anybody’s business but mine.” Mae Crowdery, a Black bisexual writer, wrote bisexual poetry in “We Lift Our Voices”. Other key authors from the time period, including Langston Hughes himself and Claude McKay, were, though not very openly, queer.

Wallace Thurman was a Black author who challenged the way racism and queerphobia intersected for Black queer men- he saw the hypermasculinization of Black men, the way Black masculinity was sexualized and dehumanized- and challenged it, expressing his own form of masculinity through his literary work. Though he never came out or disclosed his personal sexuality or gender, he is noted for nonetheless challenging their norms.

The history of the Harlem Renaissance is undeniably queer- Black queer people were the heartbeat of the Renaissance, and they built queer history in that era and beyond.

Summary-

Many, many of the prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance were queer- Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Gladys Bentley, and many, many more

Embracing diversity of sexuality and gender became a way to become racially liberated, as shown through popular drag balls, called ‘fairy balls’, that frequented the Harlem Renaissance

Blues singers were a huge part of queer culture during the Harlem Renaissance- many of them were sapphic/lesbian, sang frequently and passionately about their lesbian relationships, and performed in drag

Queer literature during the Harlem Renaissance explored the relationships between race, gender, and sexual identity

Black and queer history are inherently intertwined, especially in the Harlem Renaissance

Tagging @intersexfairy​ @metalheadsforblacklivesmatter​ @neopronouns​ @benshapirosgaylover​ @cistematicchaos​ 

Sources-

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/harlem-renaissance-black-queer-history 

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Collected_Works_of_Langston_Hughes/SsgPcfpjhBcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22spectacles+in+color%22+langston+hughes&pg=PA208&printsec=frontcover

https://time.com/6104381/lgbtq-history-harlem-renaissance/ 

https://onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu/s/we-are-everywhere/page/the-queer-harlem-renaissance

https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/theme/the-harlem-renaissance/

https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/black-and-queer-in-the-harlem-renaissance

https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1140&context=historical-perspectives

[studentfreelancer]

the sheer number of people replying positively to the idea of fucking supermarket security having free reign to execute you for shoplifting is insane i mean neurodivergent

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[studentfreelancer]

this is going to be difficult -> i am capable of doing difficult things -> i have done everything prior to this moment -> this difficulty will soon be proof of capability

[studentfreelancer]

It’s been 25 days since a last donation and tbh my mouth has started hurting me more. I would oh so appreciate it if people could please reblog this. ✨

[studentfreelancer]

i need to actually sit down and get this sideblog together. i’m making a list of things just to remind myself. no one’s probably reading this anyways 💀💀

- remember to take pics of planner, study sessions, etc

- get master list together (bio, study plans, career goals, etc)

[studentfreelancer]

It’s been 25 days since a last donation and tbh my mouth has started hurting me more. I would oh so appreciate it if people could please reblog this. ✨