Wait, What?

you are not out of paper

you have so much paper

it’s okay to function as intended

you are not out of ink

i just refilled that cartridge last month

you can connect to that computer you’re supposed to connect to

Overnight I went from being someone who wrote about "Black issues" to someone who wrote about their issues. People came to me looking for answers, and all I could do was point them to what I and so many other writers and speakers of color had been saying for literally hundreds of years and ask, "Where have you been?"

I shouldn't have to write any of this. It should be enough that these issues are impacting communities of color. We should care about what is harming our fellow human beings, even it it affects only their communities and not ours. It should be enough that this is hurting us. It is insulting that I have to point out the ways in which these issues also hurt white Americans in the hopes that I might get more people to care.

It is not simply that many white Americans do not care; it is that many white Americans are so invested in the political exclusion of people who are not white men that they will actively work against any political chance that would meaningly enfranchise women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and disabled people- even when they are aware of the potential costs to their own well-being.

Many have decided that the psychological benefit of looking at government and seeing a room full of white men is worth the very real cost to their financial and physical welfare. Somehow, even though history has shown that it is not the case, many white Americans are still able to convince themselves that listening to the same people they've always listened to will pay off for them in the end."

are you gonna be weird about feeding tubes? are you gonna ask invasive questions about catheters and ostomy bags? can you cope with seeing someone give themselves an injection? could you walk up to someone with a tracheostomy and talk to them? how about someone with a central line?

This is a very valuable and cool project. Let's get this flag out there!

And white aces 🫵🏻: we need to get our asses in gear and do whatever introspection and self-education is needed to not repeat the kind of treatment Ashabi and other ace people of colour have recieved over the years. Come on, people.

Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang and Jobu Tupaki  / Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

🌊 ~ Crystal ~ 🌊 (talisa.tossell)