Book Review - The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. I picked this up on a whim when I was browsing the January sales. I hadn’t heard of it before and was probably only interested in the cover. Thankfully, it also sounded like exactly the kind of book that I enjoy reading. Although, I’ve never been a massive fan of short story collections. I always find that they’re too, for lack of a better term, short. I’m a greedy…

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Tuscan leather 🤎✨

open up and bite it 🔒💕

After serious consideration and out of respect for the movements taking place in our country right now, I am standing in solidarity with those protesting for their rights and their lives by muting my account and joining the movement, #amplifymelanatedvoices, created by @blackandembodied and @jessicawilson.msrd so that the access to voices that matter right now: creators, leaders, and all people of color is more direct. I hope you will join in this effort in any way that is appropriate for you to do so; whether that is to speak louder yourself as BIPOC, to mute and tune yourself into BIPOC voices, and/or to amplify their voices by utilizing your own platform as a space for reposting/reblogging/redirection to BIPOC.

Understand this is my continued declaration that Black Lives Matter, not a complicit silence with those who disagree with the cause.

This is a moment, however, for folks like myself to listen. While amplifying the voices of BIPOC, please remember to divert the burden of education from their shoulders when appropriate. It is the work of the privileged to become actively anti-racist and root out the evils (however subconscious or unintentional!) within ourselves.

Also, happy Pride Month to all of you who are a members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I know it is a very different and more difficult Pride this year - doubly so for those of you who are also BIPOC - I see you in that struggle and send you all my love and respect. I retain the hope that we can yet create a better world together. I have added the LGBTQ Freedom Fund to my ever growing linktr.ee/durnesque

Amplifying Melanated Voices - polyamory & non-monogamy

Instead of posting Ask Polyamory content this week, I will be amplifying Black voices in the area of sexual health, relationships, reproductive justice, and other relevant topics. Please support these creators and organizations with your readership, donations, and other amplifying actions.

If you would like your blog or content to be featured here, please reach out.

Black & Poly - Black & Poly is a community where we ask the questions and share the stories that too often go unexamined because of fear or shame. Our goal is to provide an eclectic, culturally rich environment where people can come together to socialize, learn, and share common interests related to polyamorous living.

Alicia Bunyan Sampson - ALICIA BUNYAN SAMPSON is an independent filmmaker, writer, counsellor/advocate and researcher based in Toronto. She focuses her work primarily on her identity as a black woman, love, trauma, sexuality and non-monogamy. Her academic and creative research focuses on the intersections of sexual trauma, race and gender identity. She is currently working on a documentary series about polyamorous black people. She has a forthcoming book, No Filter: Diary Of A Polyamorous Black Girl set to be published by Thorntree Press.

Black Sex Geek - Ruby Bouie Johnson, sex therapist and educator.

Evita Sawyers - Black, Bisexual, Polyamorous, Feminist, and Opinionated

Poly Role Models - Spotlighting the perfectly-flawed, wonderfully unique people and relationships that make up polyamory!

An anti-racist reading list, compiled by Victoria Alexander.

I’m choosing to MUTE my social media for the next week. Step back from posting personal content. Time to research. Gain a better understanding, a new perspective, stand in solidarity. Amplify voices that need to be heard... and listen, unlearn and learn, and sincerely acknowledge my own privilege and complicity. Change begins within.

Black Lives Matter Is A Movement, Not A Moment✨ I am working to use the knowledge I’ve gained over the past two weeks to inform the content I create & post on this page. I can and will do better to listen to black voices, diversify my feed, and promote black creators, and I challenge other art accounts to do the same. I would love to hear your recommendations for this account & how I can do better, so please leave them below!

This book was incredible!!! 5/5 highly recommend!!!

In my years as a mental health reporter and editor, I’ve been heartened to slowly see the collection of mental health resources for Black people start to grow. It’s still not where it needs to be, but there is solidarity and support out there if you need help processing what’s happening (and there’s nothing weak about needing it, either). Here’s a list of resources that may help if you’re looking for mental health support that validates and celebrates your Blackness.

"My little black boy deserves joy. Your little black boys deserve joy. Our men deserve joy, our unborn deserve joy, our families deserve joy. They do not and have never deserved the constant mistreatment and blatant murder because of the color of their skin.

Mothers should not have to worry if they’ll fall victim to another statistic. We shouldn’t have to be up at night thinking the same exact thing-in every black household across America. Light on and up thinking, “That could’ve been him-them-us”. The America we are in needs to change. It’s unfairness and evilness has been embedded from the roots to be life threatening to us and it shouldn’t still be this way." —@alexiskristiana

It’s time for us to just listen. #AmplifyMelanatedVoices #BlackLivesMatter

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Featured artist; Miranda Festler @mirandafestler on tumblr and instagram Miranda is a professional artist working as a graphic designer, illustrator and character designer and is going to be going back to school for her MFA and DOC to develop an art therapy degree. We met while attending MCAD in Minneapolis, both of us in the Animation program and spent MANY a late night exhausted out of our minds together in the animation labs. She has one the most unique and eye catching character design and caricature styles I've seen and gives everything so much personality! Please check out her profile to see the rest of her work and send her some love! THE WHO WHAT WHY So I wanted to take part in this weeks #amplifymelanatedvoices campaign, started by Alishia McCullough (@.blackandembodied) and Jessica Wilson (@.jessicawilson.msrd), which aims to encourage non-black media users to not post their own content for this week but rather help lift up Black creators and creators of color.  As an artist with a number of amazingly talented BIPOC friends and colleagues my first thought was to showcase some of their amazing work and direct people to their pages!  If anyone would be interested in being profiled here or knows someone they'd like to boost please let me know! <3 I wont be posting any art or donation commissions on this blog for the rest of the week in support of the campaign. 

Hey friends,

I'm gonna be muted on here for a bit. Since I don't post that much "original" content currently and tend to reblog more than anything, I'll be refraining from posts on here until June 8th. If you feel so inclined, I encourage you to do the same.

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