my heart and i finally met: between my chest
my heart and i finally met: between my chest
 PRIDE IS A HOME
PRIDE IS A HOME
 GENDER IS A TELFAR BAG
GENDER IS A TELFAR BAG
 THE SCARY TRUTH
THE SCARY TRUTH
 Switching Spaces
Switching Spaces
 A BLACK GIRL'S COMING OF AGE
A BLACK GIRL'S COMING OF AGE
 HOME FOR THE BLACK AND EDUCATED
HOME FOR THE BLACK AND EDUCATED
 Together We Are Strong, That Includes YOU
Together We Are Strong, That Includes YOU
my heart and i finally met: between my chest
PRIDE IS A HOMEi’ve struggled with pride coming so quickly — it’s a lot less cute as they advertise every june when you’re living and breathing in a real queer + enby body. additive to doing my best to tackle the very real task of operating everyday in a Black body. it’s anything BUT rainbows & performativity — and with that in mind, every year since coming out, I’ve pondered the question(s):have I ever celebrated my queerness, and if not, how should I begin? what am I to take pride in? i’ve found some answers to that in my everyday choice to live — through letting go of the overthought and simplifying it down to ways I feel loved, with people who make this house feel like a home. which in essence, is queer. my (as well as my roomies) existence is queer enough. pride is a home — we’ve made a home of each other.(and if you’re a friend of mine, i’ve found a home in you). all my homies gay, it’s the biggest flex happy #pride gays & theys — enjoy some bits and pieces of our home ✨
GENDER IS A TELFAR BAGIn short, “Gender is a Telfar Bag” is a Black approach to the intersection of gender through the means of the popularized hype over the Telfar bag or better known as the telfeeezy — it is to say that no matter what name, pronouns we use, our own people will recognize our Blackness and stop there — when yes, our Blackness is priority over our queerness and gender-fluidity — however, room for our other intersections should exist as well. Do we then accept the fate of being constantly misgendered? Or keep demanding to be seen in our fullness? enjoy my telfeezy talking shit & speaking facts — who knew i’d find common ground with a luxury bag?👜🤎
THE SCARY TRUTHScaring the newly-acclaimed allies from this summer with the truth. Think of my floating face as a Black Queer Womxn haunting you with questions for the most annoyingly prompted question all summer: “What are your thoughts on the current climate”Hmm…I mean, how would you feel thinking about your loved ones lives everyday? Hoping they made it home safely. Not because of a crash but in fear of them being pulled over?How would you feel thinking about and being apart of a vulnerable community during a pandemic? One of which has historically been treated poorly through healthcare? If provided any at all –– Do you have to contemplate whether sudden opportunities have presented themselves because you’re Black in 2020? More importantly, how would you feel about clubs / groups “fighting for” your own existence? When you yourself have always viewed others as deserving of life? Would it be weird for you to witness others having epiphanies about the systems that have always worked against you and your loved ones? Why are people amplifying me as a Black artist now? Wait, how have people been choosing to digest my labor(s)? Why did it take so long? Has the lack of care toward my peoples history, sufferings, injustices and LITERAL DEATHS been a CHOICE all of this time before now?? 
Did you have to ask yourself these questions this summer?:Yet, the nerve it takes to ask me what my thoughts are –– A congratulations for the bare minimum from folks who have watched us time & time again fight for our community, is not something I can offer.This project was showcased in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum’s “Black Lives Matter” Exhibition in 2021.
Switching SpacesMany folks in the sex working industry are disproportionally affected by Covid-19. The current pandemic has limited some sex workers to the confines of their own homes—taking them away from the usual influx of in-person customers. Two young Black women in the Portland area, Discooooo and Juju, are finding ways to preserve their ties to their own forms of self-expression and art while maintaining social distancing.In this case, this means switching almost entirely to creating an online presence to spur new business opportunities like the popular online subscription service, OnlyFans—a site where users can interact directly with their fans through paid content.Getting unemployment benefits in this line of work is difficult. Dancers and sex workers around the country like Discooooo and Juju can’t file for the coronavirus small business loans like their other more socially accepted counterparts in the freelancing or self-employed categories. According to the Small Business Administration, those workers that “receive more than 5 percent of [their] gross revenue” from the sale of content that contains “prurient nature” are not eligible for loans.Already marginalized in an industry that favors white dancers, years behind their colleagues in the online sex industry, and turned away by their own government, Discooooo and Juju are fighting an uphill battle.But they refuse to give up on the only job that has ever made them feel free and confident in who they are.That is something no one can deny them.This projected was showcased in OR Magazine’s, “The Essential Edition” in 2020.
A BLACK GIRL'S COMING OF AGEBlack girls who looked and lived like me. That is all I desired growing up when watching shows like Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana and just about all of the early 2000s coming-of-age films growing up. Besides Sister, Sister which stopped airing until later in the night, there was only depictions of tokenized black girls, black women roles that still portrayed black caricatures and it never fully with me. Did Black girls not grow up young too? Was there supposed to be only one of us amongst a group of white friends?I mean damn: My brothers weren’t in these movies. My brothers never played wot guns and my father was always present. All of these elements of my individual experience within the Black community were never depicted through movies or shows, which inspired me to make a Brown Girl version of Danez Smith’s Poem, “Dinosaurs in the Hood”
HOME FOR THE BLACK AND EDUCATEDThis documentary is about the disheartenment felt by black students who don't see a reflection of themselves within these Predominantly White Institutions, better yet the professors who teach them in their desired fields. It is to show Black students that Black professors are in and aware of this issue, and that they too are aware of the change(s) that are needed for the sake of retaining and recruiting of black staff / faculty so that black students might feel more encouraged by seeing a reflection of themselves in their desired fieldsWe would've loved to have former professor Dr. Shoniqua Roach, as we strongly wanted a Black woman who is also under the LGBTQIA+ community to speak on this matter, as she is departing from the UO, and would've been essential to one of our primary points.However, we did manage to capture, and hopefully plan on expanding the narrative beyond the time-frame of (10 weeks) we were given.
Together We Are Strong, That Includes YOUThis project served as a final submission to an Ethnic Studies Course I took titled, "Queer Ethnic Literature". The idea is centered around some key concepts in Maya Gonzalez's book titled, "When A Bully Is President". Concepts: "Being Keeps Us Strong""Standing In Your Truth Keeps You Strong""Doing Keeps Us Strong" "Together We Are Strong, That Includes You" The music choice(s) are intentionally artists of color who are apart of the LGBTQIA+ community:"Bad Religion" and "Rushes" by Frank Ocean"Girl" by Syd
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