#queerrockcamp

~*A Very Important Announcement From Queer Rock Camp*~

We would like to share some very important updates with you about camp. Queer Rock Camp will not be holding a camp session in Olympia this coming summer, and we would like to share why, and invite you to join an ongoing process of feedback and envisioning. Please read on for a letter from the Olympia QRC organizing crew  -- also available in video form and a statement from QRC organizers in Seattle about their current plans. We have brainstormed a variety of ways to get your feedback about the past, present, and future of camp - and we hope that you will take some time to share your experiences and ideas with us! Queer Rock Camp values all members of our amazing and funky community, and we hope to continue working together through this time of growth, accountability, and re-envisioning. Please feel free to contact us directly with any questions or concerns.

A Letter To Our Community, From the Olympia Queer Rock Camp Collective

Dear QRC friends, family, and extended community,

We, the current group of Olympia QRC collective members, are reaching out to you to share some of our reflections on camp this past summer, as well as the work we have been doing since camp in 2015. Our group has been reflecting on the values and goals set out for QRC since its beginning five years ago, and realized we have been falling short in many ways.

Since the end of the 2015 camp sessions, we have been processing the impact that QRC has had on various communities, especially the harmful ways that camp has contributed to systemic oppression and violence. Through this reflection the QRC collective has decided to not hold camp in 2016. Instead, we hope to dedicate our time and energy towards accountability work, restorative justice, and community healing.

With great grief and a strong commitment to holding ourselves accountable, the collective acknowledges that pervasive, institutional racism has been upheld within QRC over the years our organization has existed. Other feedback the collective has recurrently received since QRC’s inception is institutional and widespread transmisogyny at camp and in the organizing structure of the collective. Some examples of this feedback is specific to workshops that have been put on over the years; oppressive dynamics between organizers, volunteers, and campers; a lack of support and resources coupled with an uneven distribution of labor; and who feels comfortable and safe returning to camp multiple years and who does not.

This feedback has been repeatedly brought up throughout the history of camp, and it’s clear to us that camp should not happen until we fully dedicate ourselves to building an anti-oppressive QRC. A group within our community, made up of former organizers and long-time volunteers, recently wrote us a letter, part of which states:

We identify racism throughout the organizing and system structure of camp as an inadvertent but violent legacy that has made camp unsafe for POC [People of Color]. We believe that prioritizing camp happening every year without addressing systemic racism perpetuates white savior mentalities and prioritizes the experiences of white youth at the direct expense of youth of color. We are asking the collective (both Seattle and Olympia) to postpone both camps in 2016 in order to fully engage the time and healing needed to focus on accountability, community building and community healing. We ask that the organizing collective fully commit to building an anti-racist Queer Rock Camp.

The collective is so grateful for the feedback and support we have received around camp’s perpetuation of oppression, particularly racism and transmisogyny. This year and every year, Queer Rock Camp has used this feedback to continually try to improve our programming and make camp safer for all participants. We want to acknowledge the important work that youth, volunteers, parents and families, and organizers have done to help QRC grow and change.

However, the Collective recognizes that this work has not been nearly enough. While camp continues to happen, we understand that there will never be enough time to prioritize the accountability and healing that must take place within the QRC community. We see this year not as a year off, but as a year to dedicate ourselves to personal and community growth, as well as to building a Queer Rock Camp where all participants feel empowered, safe, and valued.

Instead of holding a week-long camp the summer of 2016, we’re devoting ourselves to a reflection/reenvisioning project as part of holding ourselves accountable for past years of camp. The goal of this project is to create space to address harm, problems, failures and successes from previous QRC years, as well as re-envision what we want QRC to look like. We can’t do this without our community, and so we’d like to reach out to all previous campers, volunteers, organizers, etc. to share their experiences at camp with us. We realize it’s crucial to open up conversations about camp’s accountability process and discuss ideas for the future of camp with our wider community. We want to hear any feedback you want to share, including any grievances, as well as suggestions for growth. We intend to utilize feedback from the community to collaboratively rebuild Queer Rock Camp into the space we want it to be.

Also, though we aren’t holding camp this year, we still intend to provide alternative resources, space and support for queer youth this year. We would love to hear your ideas and brainstorm together about what these alternative spaces could be.

We will be holding a community forum Saturday March 5th, 2016 to create space to begin to address the issues that QRC has faced, and to plan for the work and projects QRC will be devoting itself to this year. The meeting will be from 2-5PM, with an optional potluck from 1-2PM in the Co-Lab. The address is 317 4th Ave East. Check out our facebook for an upcoming event page. We invite and welcome everyone to come and participate.

We also welcome any feedback to this announcement and letter. Look below for several ways to contact us and provide feedback.

With gratitude, love, and deep intention,

The Olympia Queer Rock Camp Collective

Intentions for Seattle Queer Rock Camp

The Seattle contingent of the Queer Rock Camp collective acknowledges the request to not hold a camp in Seattle this summer and is actively responding to the concerns of the greater QRC community. After holding the first session of Queer Rock Camp in Seattle last summer, we have recently begun building a Seattle-based collective through an open application process. We believe we need to have a solid collective to respond to the unique community in Seattle and to continue to uphold the values of QRC. Our goal is to form a group of collective members committed to interrupting oppression, including transmisogyny and racism, in our organizing collective and in our programming. We are in the process of developing a plan to seek feedback from volunteers and youth specific to the critiques we have received in order to assess the potential impact of canceling camp in Seattle next summer. We intend to involve youth in our process of removing barriers and creating an inclusive environment for the future of Queer Rock Camp in Seattle.

Avenues For Feedback

As we move forward in this process, feedback is crucial to us holding ourselves accountable and creating a better and safer QRC. We would love and appreciate any thoughts you have to share. There are several ways you can give us feedback, including anonymously through an online feedback form, or in person at our community forum.

Online feedback form (anonymous...or you're welcome to identify yourself):

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-RjhVG5pIb8mXLosFgKmb3HttKpPoy5UcFEAA0IQ7Qg/viewform

Community forum An in person community forum is being held on Saturday, March 5th from 1-5pm at the Co-Lab in Olympia. 1-2 is a potluck, and 2-5pm is a structured time to talk. The address for the Co-Lab is 317 4th Ave East.

Dear Olympia,

We are honored to begin our 5th voyage with you this coming week. As a collective of diverse queer folks, we have witnessed and been working through many feelings in the wake of the shootings of Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin this past May. The shooting of these two people is the most recent example of the continued use of the brutal and often lethal force used by local police departments against people of color.

As a collective, we feel called to address the community at large. The liberation of people of color and the liberation of queer and trans folks cannot be separated. Queer and trans struggles are historically rooted deeply within the intersections of race, sexual and gender identity/expression, as well as the fight to end police brutality and state-sponsered violence.

This is a movement that has been born of and galvanized within the response of communities no longer willing to endure police violence: lest we forget the White Night Riots, and the Stonewall Riot.

We at Queer Rock Camp are actively working to further our knowledge and understanding of the systems designed to target marginalized communities for violence-- especially communities of color. The shooting of Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin has brought that conversation home yet again - calling us to question and dismantle the myriads ways that racism manifests itself - in our relationships, our organizing work, our summer camp, and our home here in Olympia, including within the queer community and at large events such as Pride.

We are working towards a future where POC and queer folks are no longer targets of violence in our communities. To do so, dismantling the many ways that racism manifests itself must be at the core of our values.

To do so, we much stand in solidarity with the work of folks like Full Circle United (360°), who are in turn doing crucial organizing work as well as directly supporting the families of Andre and Bryson in the wake of the shooting.

To do so, we must amplify the resilience of our overlapping and separate communities, and empower our young folks to leave evidence of themselves in whatever ways they can. In the wake of suicide, bullying, hate crimes, all the ways we are taught to hate ourselves, and all the ways the systems and institutions of this world attempt to ignore, assimilate, or destroy our identities, contributions and lives, we believe that leaving evidence of ourselves as survivors, creators, dreamers, fighters, is paramount!

At Queer Rock Camp we aim to open the pathways for this evidence to be created, witnessed, and shared. Through musical expression, self- and community-empowerment, sharing love and joy: we fight, we learn, we grow. By connecting to the historical roots of our struggle, and aligning ourselves with the larger battles being waged against marginalized peoples everywhere, including here in our home town: we fight, we learn, we grow together.

Olympia, thanks for letting us rock you for the last five years. We look forward to many more to come.

LAST CHANCE TO DONATE TO QUEER ROCK CAMP

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/queer-rock-camp-takes-on-seattle

There are only a few days left of our Indiegogo campaign! If you haven't already -- PLEASE make a donation! We really need help to make camp happen in Seattle and Oly this year. Share and donate if you're able heart emoticon You'll get some rad perks with your donation like t-shirts and stickers!

Your donation will help low-income campers come to camp, buy gear for youth to rock on, feed campers, help rent show spaces for final performances, and way way more.

UPDATE FROM THE COLLECTIVE

Campaign goal now $14,950. We are 45% there!

SUPPORT QUEER ROCK CAMP

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/queer-rock-camp-takes-on-seattle/x/138576

We are at 15% of our goal with only 16 days left! Please make a donation if you are able. If we are not able to meet our fundraising goal -- QRC will happen at a very limited capacity. We need your help! All donations are meaningful. 

Check out our rad perks, including QRC t-shirts and stickers:

What is Queer Rock Camp? 

Queer Rock Camp is a weeklong music camp for queer, gender variant, gender non-conforming and allied youth (ages 12-21) based in Olympia, and Seattle Washington. Youth and volunteers come from all over the Puget Sound area, West Coast, and beyond. Campers learn an instrument, form a band, write an original song, and their hard work culminates in a public showcase. Throughout the week, youth participate in workshops focusing on community building, social justice, self-empowerment, and musical techniques. Queer Rock Camp amplifies the voice of a population that is usually silenced — allowing youth to be loud and to express themselves honestly and authentically through music. As one of the first and only music camps for queer youth — QRC has become a model for a new and exciting form of music programing.

~*QUEER ROCK CAMP NEEDS YOUR HELP*~

INDIEGOGO https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/queer-rock-camp-takes-on-seattle/x/138576

We need major financial support to make camp happen! Make a donation of $45+ to our Indiegogo campaign to get your hands on one of these awesome limited edition QRC 5th anniversary t-shirts! Donate to our Indiegogo and receive other rad merch like stickers, buttons, your choice of t-shirt, autographed camper band photos.  Hundreds of people have shared our Indiegogo video -- which is so rad, and we really need people to move up and donate before our campaign ends. Any amount is meaningful! Please help make QRC happen. 

What is Queer Rock Camp? 

Queer Rock Camp is a weeklong music camp for queer, gender variant, gender non-conforming and allied youth (ages 12-21) based in Olympia, and Seattle Washington. Youth and volunteers come from all over the Puget Sound area, West Coast, and beyond. Campers learn an instrument, form a band, write an original song, and their hard work culminates in a public showcase. Throughout the week, youth participate in workshops focusing on community building, social justice, self-empowerment, and musical techniques. Queer Rock Camp amplifies the voice of a population that is usually silent — allowing youth to be loud and to express themselves honestly and authentically through music. As one of the first and only music camps for queer youth — QRC has become a model for a new and exciting form of music programing.

Other Ways You Can Help

Can’t contribute, but want to help?

Share the indiegogo campaign on social media!

Throw us a benefit party or show

Volunteer at camp or host youth

Donate equipment

Join the organizing Collective and help plan camp

Email us at [email protected] and take on a specific project

Applications now open

2015 Camp Sessions Seattle: June 22-27th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center Olympia: August 10-15th at Lincoln Options Elementary School

Follow the links to our website to fill them out! Apps are due May 1st (campers), and May 10th (volunteers)

http://www.queerrockcamp.org/campers/camper-application/ http://www.queerrockcamp.org/volunte…/volunteer-application/