#ihartericka

I’m a couple days late to making a post bc I’m really running too low on energy to say all the things I want to say - so I just wanted to tell y’all if you check out @ihartericka’s instagram post with the caption “happy pride month to everyone except…” in that post they say a lot of what I want to say (as do most of their posts- they’re very insightful and intelligent go follow them!). 

Also keep an eye on my instagram stories if you don’t already (@bitter_feminist), as I share a lot of posts about pride, politics, opinions, etc - I don’t have a lot of spoons to make a lot of posts about all of my thoughts but the posts I share in my stories lead y’all to others’ thoughts that I agree with! 

Lastly I just wanted to say to all my closeted friends this month, that your identity(ies) are completely valid even if you’re not out. You’re seen, cherished, and supported, you’re valid even if you don’t come out this month or ever. 

To friends who are questioning, experimenting, confused, fluctuating, your identities are valid. If you go from being out as bi to gay to trans and straight or anything at all like that, your journey doesn’t make you fake, doesn’t mean you’re in a phase, doesn’t mean you’re following a fad or a trend. No binaries are real, labels are man made, your fluctuation and changing are natural - learning more words for your experiences, different experiences and environments and people will bring out different aspects in yourself, working through internalized -phobias: all of these things are part of one’s identity journeys and do not invalidate your experiences. 

And to allies, please live by those ^ truths. Validate your friends who are working through possible identities, acknowledge that fluctuation and fluidity and growth as a part of an identity journey, and does not negate it. 

Ericka Hart—sexuality educator (M.Ed. in Sex Education)

Her website has

sex education training programs

Here are the Instagram accounts I tend to be the most invested in and a list of some honorable mentions cause the actually list is always hella short. (This does not include family or friends or your average celebrities.) _______________________________________________________________________

Ericka Hart and Often Times Her Partner Ebony (ihartericka)

If I’m recommending an Instagram or a human to learn from and feel seen/heard or read little bit by, this is my go to. I talked about them last year and I’ll probably continue to talk about them as long as I’m consuming and gaining really positive things from their content. Ericka is often with her partner Eb and them together and apart are wonderful. I gain a lot from the both of them.

I highly recommend the podcast that they co-host together called From Hoodrat To Headwrap: A Decolonized Podcast, it’s also one of the only full podcasts that I listen to.

If you have some coin to spare or put towards good use they’ve facilitated 3 webinars on Gender as well as Racial and Social Justice.

And for more info on them, check their website: Ihartericka.com

Spicy.Mayo (Yaminah Mayo)

Do you need a friend or someone to give you hot takes about the things that you love, then this is it. She’s someone I’d want to have in the group chat or book club. I laugh and smile and in general just root for her. I’m also positive she made the list this year because of her side commentary on Sex and The City that just happened to come out as I was watching for the first time this year.

Her Blog (SpicyMayo.us) for that deep dive.

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A Quick List of Honorable Mentions/Other Recommends:

I also suggest checking out their websites too, cause they all do cool things.

JMaseIII (Poet/Educator)

Ricky Thompson (Everything!) 

GFx_Prints (Black Activism)

PriscilaGarciaJacquier (Writer)

Class Favorites: Instagram 

I feel like I’ve spent a lot more time on Instagram this year, but when it comes to the people I’m really invested in seeing their lives, that aren’t bands or just celebrities, these two take the cake. It’s actually 3, but I’ll explain that in a minute. _______________________________________________________________________

Ericka Hart (iheartericka) and Frequently Her Partner Eb.

I don’t know when I started following them, but it has to have been within the last year, maybe year and a half. There isn’t an Instagram I recommend more when it comes to learning about Social Justice/Gender/Sex-Education/Many Forms of Black(everything), there’s just so much to gain from and love about Ericka’s content and especially their love with their partner Ebony. The way they love and speak to each other is so nice to watch. There’s a lot of care between the two and I could watch all day.

PS: Shoutout to their podcast (Hoodrat To Headwrap: A Decolonized Podcast) for being one of the only podcasts I actively listen to. I’m not caught up yet, but I like to listen while I do my hair.

Link to her website cause she does more than Instagram: Ihartericka.com

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Karen AKA: (auntkarencorns)