A lot of times when Kamala and I write this opening letter, we end up talking about food. Which, if we’re being honest with ourselves, is perhaps a little too expected when it comes to folks of color writing about our lives. But the basic bitch reality is that K is a master chef (some things are just true) and I have an unmatched sweet tooth.

Am I thinking about all of this because I’m writing this letter after an evening filled with the joyous occasion of some mild-to-medium food poisoning? Probably.

Let’s try again! Autostraddle is spending August looking to pay our bills with a fundraiser that I believe in with my whole heart. 

There’s nothing I want more right now than to build a genuine home for QTPOC. I want us to have a place to be funny and fucking sexy. A place where we can hold, challenge and strengthen each other. Capitalism dictates that for us to make those dreams a reality, we must keep the lights on. But, we’ve long ago mastered making a way out of no way. We will pass the same $25 over and over on GoFundMe’s and Cash Apps, just like our aunties and abuelas’ hosted dinner plates at church and our mamas’ had rent parties.  We’ve been here before. That’s why we survive. Please give — and help us keep these nearly 50 queer jobs going until the end of the year —  if you’re able.

PS: Kamala and I will be guests at Autostraddle’s  LIVE Town Hall to talk more about our future together. This Friday, August 7th, at 8:30 PM EST. Come see us, we would love it!

And I love you,
Carmen

Trans Love In Pandemic Times by Xoai Pham

Anatomy of A Mango: Flesh by Dani Janae

This Relief Fund is Supporting LGBTQ Immigrants During the Pandemic and They Want Your Help by Lia Dun

Year of Our (Audre) Lorde: July Is a Black Unicorn by Jehan

What Beyoncé Tells Us Without Saying a Word by Angelica Jade Bastién

I did not know I needed a close read of Beyonce’s visual imagery, like we’re flipping through slides in an art history class — but I really did!

TikTok and the Evolution of Digital Blackface by Jason Parham

Black erasure and Blackface on digital platforms isn’t new, but racism on TikTok is particularly slippery, and this is such a wild read.

🎨Limited Edition AS Prints by Dia Pacheco

We're enamored of the gorgeous illustrations gracing these shirts and stickers! Support our fundraiser by giving yourself a little gift — or you know, your friends, if you still remember them.

✨‘Black Women Need to Unlearn the Pattern of Martyrdom’ by Christina M. Tapper

“We have to unlearn the idea that we have to earn pleasure. That we have to earn the right to rest. That we have to earn the right to be desired, to be loved, to be seen. That someone else has to give us permission to feel good.” This interview with adrienne maree brown is yet another of her best reminders that it will be okay.

🎉The LA-ist podcast California Love, Episode 3: P Line by Walter Thompson-Hernández 

Don’t get TOO excited because there are no gay treats here, but this was one of the best audio stories that Kamala has heard in a while, and made her want to get on a queer P Line pronto.