roxoutsidethebox

Hi!

I’m moving to Oakland to begin my Ph.D. at UC Berkeley in the fall, and I would really love your help in assisting in the cost of moving, starting over, and making a long-term goal of mine come to fruition.

My name is Caleb and I’m a superfat, queer, Xicanx, working class, femme, gender non-conforming first generation student. Last year I accomplished a goal of mine in completing my bachelor’s degree after 11 years. This year, after an intially unsuccessful round of graduate admissions application last year, I have been accepted to the University of California Berkeley’s Performance Studies Ph.D. program, and I am so proud to accomplish this long-term goal and excited to begin to live my dreams. My academic work examines colonial impositions of acceptable bodies and the various ways fat bodies challenge and resist these standards through stage, performance, art, and mere existence. Additionally, for several years I have been writing about fatness, queerness, race, desire, sexuality, and their varying intersections on platforms like Tumblr, Facebook and Black Girl Dangerous.

Unfortunately, the day after I accepted the offer for graduate, I was notified that my current duplex was purchased by a new developer with other plans, and I was given 35 days to leave my home– rapidly expediting my move and leaving me financially unprepared. This should not have been as surprising as it was, given that I live in the East Side of Austin, the site of rapid gentrification, and there are already new townhomes on my street, neighboring families who have been here for years.I am asking for my community help me get to Oakland and begin my life anew. Wonderful friends have gifted me with a working vehicle that will get me there, but will require registration upon arrival, as well as routine maintenance to prepare for the 1,700-mile trip. Additionally, I will not be able to bring any of my current furniture, which means I will need to refurnish my room upon arrival with a bed, desk, and bookshelf. Here is what I am estimating for expenses:

–gas ($400) –food ($150) –hotel, two nights (~$150) –registration & inspection (~$300) –new tires (~$250) –oil change ($40) –bed frame & mattress ($400) –desk ($150) –dresser ($75) –book shelf (~$125) –home delivery (~$150) –shipping three boxes of clothes and two boxes of books that will not fit in the car (~$200) –bed sheet set & pillows (~$150) –security deposit for new home ($400) –miscellaneous expenses for whatever might come up (~$60)

DON’T go chasing waterfalls!!!!

No, I don’t mean hate at first sight. Nemeses don’t even have to particularly dislike each other, though it’s admittedly customary.