Pulse: A Intersectional Remembrance

Pulse: 4 Years Later 

Pulse was a shooting which hit me hard

It was my people who were killed in a mass

In a place consider Holy

I walked by similar Holy places every day

Walked by, To and from work

Pulse reminded me of my own privilege

As a cis-gendered asexual white woman

The privilege of unknowing

So few people know what Asexual is

No one can identify us Aces at 20 paces

Pulse was a reminder

No matter what progress we had made

There was still

Uncertainty, Pain, and Even Death

And these are still just as true 

We currently are in a moment

When we are acknowledging

Some of the white supremacist roots of our institutions

#BlackLivesMatter, #BlackTransLivesMatter, #BlackQueerBodiesMatter

But these lives continue to be killed in a mass too

This world is still filled with

Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism

In messages, we all see every day

From political and cultural leaders

Telling us all that we are not worthy

But we are Beloved and Loved

But we are Brave and Justice Seekers

But we all are worthy

#BlackLivesMatter, #BlackTransLivesMatter, #BlackQueerBodiesMatter

So go forth: Protest, March, Dance, and above all LOVE

Too many systems are broken

Too many communities torn apart

Too many family members lost

So, mourn and cry and scream

And then create New Systems 

That Celebrate BIPOC

That Celebrate Trans Women and Trans Men 

And Gender Queer People

Create New Systems

Filled with intersectional awareness

Intersectional belovedness

Pulse reminded us we need to boldly out into the world dancing and marching and protesting and sending Love out in the world.

BIPOC music to explore:

Queer Black Musicians

Queer/Two-Spirit Indigenous Musicians 

Queer Latinx Musicians, and 

Queer Musicians By Country

We also need to support BIPOC Queer Led Organizations:

I personally support Lighthouse Foundation an amazing Black Queer Led nonprofit social justice organization that advances justice for Black LGBTQ+ people across Chicagoland through empowerment, education, and entertainment.

Find the BIPOC and BIPOC Queer Led Organizations in your own community and see what support you can give: Maybe money. Maybe marching, Maybe protesting, Maybe writing elected officials, Research what your local organizations have been asking for and organize your neighbors to help.

Other actions we can take:

We also need to support organizations offering mental health services rooted in the BIPOC

experience.

We also can also pay attention to the policies, procedures, and laws happening at the local, state, and national levels. We can support local candidates we agree with. We can virtual canvass for candidates across the nation.

We can pay attention to the groups and originations we are a part of. We can pay attention if these groups and organizations have a significant amount of BIPOC or Queer representation in upper management/leadership. If not we need to start examining why and what we and our groups and organizations can do to cultivate more PIPOC and Queer representation in leadership.

The 4th anniversary of Pulse is another reminder to push even harder to create a physically safe, emotionally safe, and loving country for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and LGBTQ+ BIPOC