we are here. this is now.

**Under the Sea**

This is the perfect painting to finish with this year’s #Mermay . What would be better than a voyeurist Ariel??

Photographer: Lauren Soleil-Downer 

On Monday, January 19, 2015, We, @Werqatl and the Black queer community of Atlanta marched under the banner of ‪#‎ReclaimHERDream‬ to RECLAIM the radical legacy of ALL Black women in the Civil Rights Movement.

After the march, we disrupted the rally to hold memorial/mock funeral service for ALL Black women, cis and trans, queer and straight.

Brief of the opening statement: 

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today because Black women are DYING and we need to begin fighting for the freedom and safety our BLACK WOMEN with the same URGENCY that we hold for our Black men.  - @WerqATL

WERQ responded to a national call from Ferguson to #ReclaimMLK. In doing this work, we wanted to place Dr. King within a larger movement of Black working class women (cis and trans, queer and straight), who with Dr.King, risked their lives on the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement, only to be relegated to the sidelines of history. 

We marched for Harriet, Ida B., Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Septima Clark, Pauli Murray, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Diane Nash, the Four Little Girls, the women of SNCC, SCLC, CORE, and the other countless and nameless women and girls who lives did not MATTER in the making of history. Because we believe #BlackWomenMatter!

We marched for Kathryn Johnson, Kim Jones, Sakia Gunn, Mia Henderson, Islan Nettles, Renisha McBride, Marissa Alexander, Rekia Boyd, Islan Nettles, Yaz’min Shancez, Tiffany Edwards, Aiyanna Jones, Yvette Smith, Tarika Wilson, Tyisha Miller, our mamas, our sisters, our grandmamas, you, and so many others.

Black women are MORE than the mothers and sisters of Black men who are murdered by the police. 

We are beaten, terrorized, raped, choked, shot, and murdered.

Black women are MORE than the daughters and lovers of revolutionary Black men.We are the revolutionaries!  We are freedom fighters, we are activists, we are organizers and we have stood on the front lines of every movement for freedom in this country!  We will not remain on the margins of your headlines or your movement. We will fight for Black Women! Because in the words of June Jordan: “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

For more info: 

Tumblr: @werqatl

Twitter: WerqATL

Email: [email protected]

Follow some of WERQ’s members:

@queerasiwannabe

@daughterofzami