in a treetop village, illuminated by the nightthe children of the forest congregate,the children of the forest prayfor the lunar goddess has blessed them,the moon shall light the way the gatherers will gift their gather,the sowers will spread their sowfor the bounties of the soil are plentiful,the toil is its own reward now, come together … Read more
Preface by huiyin zhou These five poems are part of a translation series that emerged from 离离草 Chinese Artists and Organizers (CAO) Collective’s poetry writing workshops in 2022 with a group of diasporic Chinese queer feminists. The poems were originally written in Chinese using exquisite corpse, a collaborative art game attributed to French surrealists Yves … Read more
Introductionby Şervîn Nûdem, Jineolojî Academy The transformation of rage into struggle and of struggle into freedom has been an underlying feature of the last fifty years of liberation movements in Kurdistan. The first important step in the struggle was the development of rage against the status quo. That time was marked by a deathly silence. … Read more
Argentina legalized abortion in December 2020 after years of popular mobilizations, delivering a historic victory to the movement Ni Una Menos (Not One Less). In Poland two months prior the Constitutional Tribunal ruled in favor of a near total ban on abortion, casting a major defeat for the Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike). Three years later, … Read more
Introduction Amidst the undulating plains and vast uplands of Turbat, I encountered Banuk Merbibi. Banuk Merbibi is a female religious leader in the Zigri community, and her home Turbat is the capital city of Makran, Balochistan, a province that is now an annexed and military-occupied region of the Pakistani state. To the outside world, beyond … Read more
I am sitting with Elvin, a longtime and prominent organizer in the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, in a building that houses offices and rooms in which movement organizing is constantly taking place. I ask Elvin to describe to me the Kurdish Women’s Movement’s theoretical and ideological perspective of self-defense. She tells me: Self-defense means intellectual development, … Read more
Introduction: Combahee Taught Us We realize that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our liberation are us. Our politics evolve from a healthy love for ourselves, our sisters, and our community which allows us to continue our struggle and work.– Combahee River Collective I, Loren I began organizing when … Read more
Rage’s Resurgence In 2016, unaired footage of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women during a conversation with a television host surfaced: “You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can … Read more
I honor the published work, and heart and soul, of Dána-Ain Davis with an interpretation of reproductive visual art. Seeding Reproductive Justice with Art In June 2018, when I was on a research trip in Salvador, Brazil, I met up for lunch with my dear friend Ani Ganzala, an amazing Black Brazilian queer artist. Ani … Read more
Introduction Increasing attention is being paid to the underlying social and structural causes of what is known as the Black maternal health crisis, a phrase used to describe the adverse maternal health outcomes and increased risk of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity among Black birthing people. Social science scholarship related to the Black maternal health … Read more
