connotativewords:

I normally would not put up another person’s writing, but this one was a must. A fine young fellow, Danny Higa, posted this a long time ago as a text post. His tumblr is now deactivated from my knowledge (I think he still has a twitter). Thank goodness I still had this post on my archive. This was one of the posts that inspired me to write – to really write. No excuses, no hesitations, nothing. It made me think hard and clear about the one person who would not leave my mind. I gathered my thoughts, all tangled and twisted, and wrote about her.
Danny, you probably won’t ever see this, but I hoped to one day have the talent you possess. And I want to sincerely thank you for inspiring me.
I just wanted to share this with you all. Hopefully it will inspire you too.

connotativewords:

I normally would not put up another person’s writing, but this one was a must. A fine young fellow, Danny Higa, posted this a long time ago as a text post. His tumblr is now deactivated from my knowledge (I think he still has a twitter). Thank goodness I still had this post on my archive. This was one of the posts that inspired me to write – to really write. No excuses, no hesitations, nothing. It made me think hard and clear about the one person who would not leave my mind. I gathered my thoughts, all tangled and twisted, and wrote about her.

Danny, you probably won’t ever see this, but I hoped to one day have the talent you possess. And I want to sincerely thank you for inspiring me.

I just wanted to share this with you all. Hopefully it will inspire you too.

connotativewords:

December 3, 2012
the seasons come and go
but with you
I’m here to stay

connotativewords:

December 3, 2012

the seasons come and go

but with you

I’m here to stay

connotativewords:

December 5, 2012

connotativewords:

December 5, 2012

"

“Mother,” I slowly repeated in Korean. “I am not a boy. I am a girl. I am transgender.” My face reddened, and tears blurred my vision. I braced myself for her rejection and the end to a relationship that had only begun.

Silence again filled the room. I searched my mother’s eyes for any signs of shock, disgust or sadness. But a serene expression lined her face as she sat with ease on the couch. I started to worry that my words had been lost in translation. Then my mother began to speak.

“Mommy knew,” she said calmly through my friend, who looked just as dumbfounded as I was by her response. “I was waiting for you to tell me.”

“What? How?”

“Birth dream,” my mother replied. In Korea some pregnant women still believe that dreams offer a hint about the gender of their unborn child. “I had dreams for each of your siblings, but I had no dream for you. Your gender was always a mystery to me.”

I wanted to reply but didn’t know where to begin. My mother instead continued to speak for both of us. “Hyun-gi,” she said, stroking my head. “You are beautiful and precious. I thought I gave birth to a son, but it is OK. I have a daughter instead.”

"

Andy Marra, The Beautiful Daughter: How My Korean Mother Gave Me the Courage to Transition

such a beautiful story. as a queer person, waiting is filled with anxiety about what to say, how much of myself and my life would i be able to reveal? the fear of rejection is so huge, but i also desperately want my family to know me, my life, my trials, my triumphs.

i just want to look into someone’s eyes and see myself, feel like i look like someone, like i can see where i came from. i want to know if i am an oppa or hyung.

i want to know if i had a name.

i have heard all the stories, all the possibilities from bad to good that can happen when you find your birth family. but this…this is the best. the absolute best.

(via glittergeek)

This gave me chills. This is wonderful.

(via strugglingtobeheard)

And then I cried all over myself.

(via rebekahloves)

(via wocwholikewoc)

"Let me reiterate that to you: If facials or any other sex act makes you feel bad, gross uncomfortable or degraded, then you should not do it ever. That is wrong. But men aren’t the only ones who like things they see in porn. In my case, there’s nothing degrading about receiving a desired sex act I’ve asked for as a consenting adult. Sex acts are degrading when they make you feel degraded — and nobody gets to decide that but you, not even feminism."

-Emily McCombs, Do Women Like Facials? (via catarangs)

“Sex acts are degrading when they make you feel degraded — and nobody gets to decide that but you, not even feminism.” YES THANK YOU.

—BB

(via fuckyeahsexpositivity)

(via lipstick-feminists)

"Do not tolerate, from yourself or others, jokes that make fun of anyone for anything that is harmful or out of their control. Ever. Period. Full stop. Not racist jokes, not sexist jokes, not homophobic or transphobic jokes, not jokes that make fun of people who have physical or mental disabilities or illnesses. Practice this now, and practice it deliberately. You should have a sense of humour, but this is NOT a sense of humour. Don’t do it. Ever. It’s never okay."

— The dean of my law school who is a fucking BAMF (via american-idolatry)

(via amyleona)

"Your poetry is lonely. And yet, you write to feel less alone."

— Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You (x)

(via amyleona)

"Ableism must be included in our analysis of oppression and in our conversations about violence, responses to violence and ending violence. Ableism cuts across all of our movements because ableism dictates how bodies should function against a mythical norm—an able-bodied standard of white supremacy, heterosexism, sexism, economic exploitation, moral/religious beliefs, age and ability. Ableism set the stage for queer and trans people to be institutionalized as mentally disabled; for communities of color to be understood as less capable, smart and intelligent, therefore “naturally” fit for slave labor; for women’s bodies to be used to produce children, when, where and how men needed them; for people with disabilities to be seen as “disposable” in a capitalist and exploitative culture because we are not seen as “productive;” for immigrants to be thought of as a “disease” that we must “cure” because it is “weakening” our country; for violence, cycles of poverty, lack of resources and war to be used as systematic tools to construct disability in communities and entire countries."

— Mia Mingus, Moving Toward the Ugly: A Politic Beyond Desirability (via a-bayani)

(Source: quelola, via casual-isms)

"Terms such as “culturally deprived,” “economically disadvantaged” and “underdeveloped” place the responsibility for their own conditions on those being so described. This is known as “blaming the victim.” It places responsibility for poverty on the victims of poverty. It removes the blame from those in power who benefit from, and continue to permit, poverty.

Still another example involves the use of “non-white,” “minority” or “third world.” While people of color are a minority in the U.S., they are part of the vast majority of the world’s population, in which white people are a distinct minority. Thus, by utilizing the term “minority” to describe people of color in the U.S., we can lose sight of the global majority/minority reality - a fact of some importance in the increasing and interconnected struggles of people of color inside and outside the U.S.

To describe people of color as “non-white” is to use whiteness as the standard and norm against which to measure all others."

Robert B. Moore, “Racism in the English Language”

Why people of color > “minorities” or “non-white”

(via wretchedoftheearth)

(via amyleona)

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it."

— Roald Dahl (via thelisashow)

(Source: thelisashow)

The Top 5 Quotes About Rape from Republican Men

ethiopienne:

[TW: rape, sexual assault]

agvnotes:

These are the best (worst) GOP rape quotes I could find - but message me if you have more. Let’s hold these people accountable. 

1. Todd Akin: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down” - mid 2012 Senate Campaign 

2. Clayton Williams: “If it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it” - mid 1990 Gubernatorial race in Texas 

3.  Chuck Winder“I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that’s part of the counseling that goes on.” - March 2012 

4.  Ken Buck“A jury could very well conclude that this is a case of buyer’s remorse … It appears to me … you invited him over… the appearance is of consent.” - October 2010 

5. Rick Santorum: “I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you… rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” - January, 2012

PEOPLE: WE SHOULD ALL BE FURIOUS. WE SHOULD ALL GET PISSED OFF AND BE VOCAL ABOUT IT. WE SHOULD ALL VOTE. 

Click each name for a source: Todd AkinClayton Williams, Chuck Winder, Ken Buck, Rick Santorum 

(via rabbleprochoice)

nefermaathotep:

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

(via kemetically-afrolatino)

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."

— Carl Jung (via beautifulepitome)

(via kemetically-afrolatino)

"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

— Carl Sagan (via quote-book)

(via kemetically-afrolatino)