#notvanishing

[9volt]

happy hour

[eunice-bee]

Wooo chile, last night was quite the night. I am so grateful to be doing the work I do for amazing artists, curators and facilitators. Thank you @notvanishing @adrienne_loon @stacyleephoto @daynadanger @jonas.a.gilbert @moeclark for taking all of the space at @articule_mtl #gijiit (at Articule) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxUu1rHABLdoVD7_HsQuMDKJp9rXsGjLx4lSgM0/?igshid=136b3shchcmp6

[kamalamackerel]

I extend my gratitude to everyone who came out for my performance, "Truth & Punishment" at @lacentralegaleriepowerhouse for the vernissage of The Ethical Etherealness of Fuck and Love, curated by @notvanishing . And I extend my gratitude to my loved ones & my peers who supported me & held me through the process of creating & performing this piece. "Truth & Punishment" is the first and only piece of mine that directly and deliberately addresses gendered violence. It was at once a difficult & a healing process, a challenge that felt both unsurmountable & deeply transformative. In this performance, I explore the trope of the “crazy Black trans woman” as a continued state of being that exists between truth & punishment. Juxtaposing instances of freedom (as in “being your true self”) with punishment (as in “being punished for being your true self”), I address trans misogynist violence as it is condoned in all spheres of society, particularly amongst the progressive left: the queer community, the social justice warriors & the feminists. there is no P in this TSD. there is no P in this TSD. there is no P in this TSD. Photo credit: @valdbah #performer #performance #queerperformer #transperformer #performanceart #liveperformance #installation #storyteller #storytelling #poetics #poetry #girlslikeus #transgender #femme #trans #twoc #queer #transmauritius #transmontreal #blackgirlmagic #lamackerel #kamalamackerel #truth (at LA CENTRALE galerie Powerhouse) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpSh8fCnGOC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=bc5u3wbwn3j8

[somethingaboutacircle]

Culture saves lives! So many photos of this but it's so beautiful <3 @culturesaveslives #culturesaveslives #dtes #powwow #uncededcoastsalishterritories #yvr #indigenous #celebration #ceremony #dancing #livingculture #notvanishing #nativepride

[realfknlegacy]

notvanishing replied to your post: I don’t know where Studen...

welcome to the working poor, bb!!

Ughhhhhhhh. I've been after them for more money since classes started.

(also I feel uncomfortable using that term for myself, since I am...really not/still incredibly privileged. I'm broke 'cause I can afford to be.)

[fatfreerangefemme-blog]

Getting down by Chrystos- "In her I am"

to the bone place where blood is made 

and every moon's a mother

your hands & tongue

in me a brush fire I wake up wanting you

Shrill cry of a dawn bird between my legs

memories of your sweet brown breasts

brushing my thighs

You go 

where no one

has gone before until I'm weeping laughing

as you murmur in my wet ear 

your husky voice like hot blood   I love you

My hair in your mouth burns for you

your lips nibble my lips my breasts

think they can't live without you

Between moments of you I'm a bird

who flies out of vision

you come

like the first bird breaking open the night with dawn

stars bursting into day sucking you I'm made

a moon sweet with light

Crying in that bone & blood place where you make me

Yours.

-----------------------

It is true. As a young lesbian, I was a poetry hound. Always seeking out poetry that could best convey my love, my lust, my longing, my pain and my nature. Often times, I came across this very homogenized lesbian poetry, that would make me laugh out loud. And then from time to time I would come across something that took my breath away, and made me weep, because I saw myself in it: my pain, my lust, my struggle, my nature and my skin. I took one of my first lovers. Her name was DJ. She was beautiful, butch, soft and first. She gave me a copy of "In her I am," by Chrystos, a Lakota Femme. DJ welcomed my fist as if it was meant to be housed in her deep cunt. She showed me how to fuck her, unapologetic of my desire to be inside her. She challenged my ideas of what it meant for me to be femme, and no one loved the smell of my cunt as much as she did. I wish I have carried around this book for the better part of 15 years, through many loves, a lot of heartbreaks, a lot of loss, a lot of trying to find home and a whole lot of love. I have also learned to submit.

I realize there are queers who don't know about Chrystos, but I think we should all know of her. She has dedicated her life to activism, while living on a small island in the Pacific Northwest. She is a First Nations womyn, who writes beautifully. She is my elder, and she will not vanish.

  Other books by her:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=chrystos&sprefix=chrys%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Achrystos

Chrystos at Creating Change 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZcLj-caeOE

[kamalamackerel]

For the first time in 18 months, I am presenting a new piece. "Truth & Punishment" explores the trope of the “crazy Black trans woman” as a continued state of being that exists between truth & punishment. This friday at @lacentralegaleriepowerhouse for the vernissage of The Ethical Etherealness of Fuck and Love curated by @notvanishing 8pm SHARP! The exhibition & the installation will be on until Oct 19 and also features work by @sarahbiscarradilley, @daynadanger, @arielletwist & @elle.mahogany. (at LA CENTRALE galerie Powerhouse) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn8q-7-ncSR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dyes16ysw3yd