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Please have a moment of silence for the people who were killed instead of freed when news of emancipation finally reached the furthest corners of the american south.

have another moment for the ledgers, catalogs, and records that were burned and the homes that were destroyed to hide the presence of very much alive and still enslaved people on dozens of plantations and homesteads across the south for decades after emancipation.

and have a third moment for those who were hunted and killed while fleeing the south to find safety across the border, overseas, in the north and to the west.

black people. light a candle, write a note to those who have passed telling them what you have achieved in spite of the racist and intolerant conditions of this world, feel the warmth of the flame under your hand, say a prayer of rememberance if you are religious, place the note under the candle, and then blow it out.

if you have children, sit them down and tell them anything you know about the life of oldest black person you've ever met. it doesn't have to be your own family. tell them what you know about what life was like for us in the days, years, decades after emancipation. if you don't know much, look it up and learn about it together.

This is Juneteenth.

Things are finally falling into place. Going so long without top surgery has been a struggle, it's a serious detriment to my mental health and my quality of life.

I feel like every day I have to choose between physical comfort and being depressed and anxious/overly mindful of my chest all day, or having mental peace while my body aches and I sit in pain for a while.

My HRT provider said she's gonna do all she can to help my top surgery get covered by insurance, but unfortunately there is no guarantee it will be covered, especially by the surgeon I've chosen who has a very quality reputation, is in my area, and openly works with queer and trans folks (as well as non-white demographics).

I'm able to pay the consultation fee on my own, and I work full time. But I'm also in school, I live alone, pay rent, pay bills, tuition, groceries, and take care of a cat. Even if I were to put all my remaining cash in savings every month, I don't think it would be enough to help me with the overall surgery cost by the time my surgery date comes around, so I'm getting the jump on raising funds for it!

I'll be posting updates in regard to my insurance situation, how the consultation goes, and everything else related to the journey.

I will be pulling some crazy overtime in the coming months to hopefully be able to afford my surgery costs, insurance is not accepted by my chosen surgeon but there's no one else I'd rather go with since he's doing a custom surgery method tailored to my body and has very thorough experience with the trans community, as well as only being 2 hours away from where I live by car.

Since it's officially June, I would really appreciate whatever help people would be able to offer to maybe make the coming months less taxing for me and the hours I'll be working to make up the amount.

TILL 🖤