Heteronormativity makes us prey: At 15 I believed acting out my crushes was worse than being exploited by strangers
I was more afraid of being found out than of being harmed.
Rape culture tells us it is normal. My body knows this is a lie
Those who resist rape culture’s control allow my body—a queer Black body that has never known rape—to be possible.
When liberal orgs tell QTPOC to “bring your full self to work,” it’s a lie. I know because I fell for it.
By recognizing the unwritten rules and expectations for what they are, we can better navigate these spaces or leave them altogether to build our own.
For all the poor Black kids who become prey for rich white liberals
He knows he can ruin poor Black folks lives, and then just retreat into his money with no guilty conscience. A monster.
There’s a Black queer dude swinging at white people by my job and I’m losing my mind too
Not “lose our minds” in the immediate, ableist sense, but like what happens when your mind goes off searching for freedom beyond political rights and social politeness.
I wanted to stop suffering like Jamel Myles. Here’s what I learned about youth mental health
By Nickolas Gaines Content Note: Suicide, homophobia, bullying The first time I attempted suicide, I was a high school freshman. An email circulated around my friend group that said I was gay, and it was also posted up by the…
When men dispose of other men who are violent, we avoid accountability
By Daniel Johnson Scholar Henry A. Giroux’s work Stormy Weather: Hurricane Katrina and the Politics of Disposability positions disposability politics strictly as it relates to those who were seen as disposable by the state during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, disposability…
“We’ve never been this close”: Why I needed to capture Black brotherly intimacy in these photos
Filmmaker Emir Fils-Aime and Music Producer Anthony Avery photographed by Gioncarlo Valentine. “Black men loving Black men is THE revolutionary act.” - Marlon Riggs Gioncarlo A few months ago I asked two friends to sit for a series of portraits so…
Looking for the dirt in ‘Dirty Computer’: Why Janelle Monae’s latest isn’t her ‘most radical & queer’
By Vernon Jordan, III I remember a time when I knew who I was, and knew who I wanted to be, without having the verbal language for it. I was three, four and five, trying to Moonwalk along with Michael…
What’s socially desirable influences our friendships too, and that’s a problem
By Hess Stinson If you a bad girl and your friends bad too, that's not a coincidence. It’s not uncommon for people to use their friends to boost their social capital and bragging rights, or to curate them in a…
