“Black Women Radicals and Asian American Feminist Collective”
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Hi Friend!
It’s Jaimee Swift and Tiffany Diane Tso, co-editors of Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities, a collaborative project between Black Women Radicals and Asian American Feminist Collective. It’s a column on Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s The Margins and an upcoming anthology with Haymarket Books (!!!). We’re thrilled to be guest editors for this month’s newsletter for 18 Million Rising — in light of both Black History Month and the start of the Year of the Tiger.
We love taking these moments to celebrate our communities’ cross-racial alignments throughout history. But Black and Asian feminist solidarity is more than a trend or a twice-a-year talking point. It’s our mission to center these legacies and lived experiences on a regular basis.
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18 Million Rising is looking for a Communication Design Intern to join our team! Our internship program is designed to provide practical experience in Asian American movement building, digital organizing, and creative media. With the team, you’ll create graphics for social media, campaign emails, website assets, and more. Apply by March 2, 2022.
- 4 month internship starting in April
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Part-time position requiring 10 – 20 hours per week
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$4,800 stipend for the program
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Remote anywhere in the U.S.
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Jaimee: I like to celebrate Black History Month by centering the power of Black feminists from around the world. Black Women Radicals’ reading list celebrates Black women and gender expansive leaders who don’t get mainstream attention during Black History Month. For Lunar New Year, I am plugging the Black and Asian Feminist Reproductive Justice Syllabus curated by Salonee Bhaman, co-leader of AAFC!
Tiffany: To celebrate the Lunar New Year, I like to fold as many dumplings as I possibly can for prosperity. For Black History Month this year, Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey (aka DJ MOR Love and Joy) and I are curating a special playlist for our weekly virtual transnational feminist dance parties! This year, I’m leaning into love and human connection more than ever—with the people I can safely see in person, in virtual spaces, and across borders.
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Jaimee: As a Black feminist, Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones by Carole Boyce Davies showed me the necessity of having an internationalist and intersectional praxis in radical Black feminist movement building but also in catalyzing cross-racial solidarities as well. It explores the radical life of Trinidad-and-Tobago-born journalist, Communist, and activist Claudia Jones. Jones was also the founder of the newspaper, West Indian Gazette (WIG), which would later be renamed the West Indian Gazette and the Afro-Asian Caribbean News.
Tiffany: I highly suggest reading Sonya Renee Taylor’s The Body Is Not An Apology if you haven’t already. Taylor’s writing helped me understand I needed to decolonize my own mind to be a better activist/organizer. She teaches us that we must shed internalized fatphobia and anti-Blackness (white supremacist concepts) in order to embrace radical self-love.
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Jaimee: I am super excited right now about Black People and Pets! It gives me so much joy to look at Black people who care and love their fur babies! I have also been binge-watching nostalgic shows and movies that shaped my childhood and teenage years like Moesha, the Proud Family, The Parkers, and That’s So Raven! I literally cannot get enough of it.
Tiffany: Comedy is my most effective depression cure, so I’ve been leaning on it a lot this winter. Lately I’ve been lurking Patti Harrison’s Instagram and watching Abbott Elementary (thank you, Quinta Brunson!) for the serotonin. It’s exciting to see hilarious women of color like Harrison and Brunson getting their spotlights.
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Jaimee: The celebration of Black History and Black Futures Month is not only for the month of February—it is a celebration of Black life, leadership, and joy all year round. You can support the work of Black Women Radicals and our political education arm, The School for Black Feminist Politics, by donating here! (We are fiscally sponsored by Destiny Bridge Builders)
Tiffany: In case you missed it, we’re also publishing a book on Black and Asian feminist solidarities in 2023 with Haymarket Books. Putting this anthology together is a labor of love on our end, and we can’t wait to share it with you!
Also, here are some upcoming opportunities:
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Thank you for joining us this month, Friend. And remember to keep the torch burning for Black and Asian feminist solidarity post-February!
Love and Gratitude,
Jaimee and Tiffany + Laura, Bianca, Turner, Charlene and Irma – the 18MR Team
P.S. If you’ve enjoyed reading our monthly newsletter, would you chip in $5 so we can keep inviting rad guest editors?
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UPDATE 11/4/24 Download our FREE ZINE for you to print out, fold and distribute to your community. Though the Marathon is over, we still must inform […]
