New INCITE! Book: The Revolution Starts at Home

posted by Eve Mitchell.

A couple weeks ago L Boogie sent me a link to the new INCITE! book, The Revolution Starts at Home.  I’d read a few Andrea Smith books and The Revolution Will Not Be Funded was a very influential book for me, having worked in/been around nonprofits for years.  I’ve maintained a critique of INCITE for recognizing the need for autonomous organizations but yet continuing to exist as a nonprofit.  But from what I can tell, this book is the shit.

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with folks, mostly women and queers, about the (lack of) accountability process.  When things like intimate partner violence happen within the Left, what infrastructures are there in dealing with it?  Usually none.  There’s always a lot of talk about dialogue, accountability, restorative justice, survivor needs, etc.  But when something actually happens, most communities are simply thrown into chaos and impotence.

I’ve always said that without strong women and queer-led organizations and institutions that are capable of standing up to patriarchy and homo/trans*phobia, individual accountability processes will always be limited.  From what I can tell, there are few historical examples to draw from, and in fact the most militant on point organizations of the past were riddled with patriarchs.  The is the legacy of the Left.  We need of a deeper analysis of how heteropatriarchy functions in favor of the rulers, and it must be worked out in practice through fighting, autonomous organizations.

B.E.T.C.H. Rag #2

This is a long overdue post about the Second B.E.T.C.H. (Beautiful Educated Thunder Cunts from Hell) Rag zine published a few months ago.  B.E.T.C.H. is one of the only organizations in Austin that is explicitly non-male; they do regular potlucks, consent workshops, DIY craft nights, movie screenings, and have published two compilations of writing by local women and queers.  You can access the first Rag here.

Rag #2 hit home for us and so we wanted to thank the B.E.T.C.H. folks for helping us see some of the shared experiences women and trans* folks are having in Austin.  The zine is filled with poems and stories about women who have been raped, non-consensually objectified, stalked, and generally treated as non-humans.  The zine blatantly expresses the very real fear of men that a lot of women and queers carry around.  A fear that we don’t often talk about and usually feel alone or fucked up for having.  Expressing these experiences together is an essential part of the process of rebuilding ourselves from the marginalization we feel on a daily basis.

There are a lot of things about this zine that we can identify with.  We, too, get scared on the street at night.  We, too, have years of experiences that have taught us to be afraid of men, that we’re weak, stupid, rapeable.  We, too, have armed ourselves with knowledge of consent and safety.  All the things individuals can do to prevent being attacked.

Jotalogues: Queers of Color Against Privilege Politics!

posted by Eve Mitchell.

Last weekend some friends and I went to see Jotalogues, a two-person monologue/dialogue play promoted by Austin’s major queer people of color nonprofit, allgo. The performers said they are still workshopping their piece and so I don’t want to give much away but I wanted to share some love for Adelina Anthony and D’Lo for their amazing writing and performances.

When I first heard about Jotalogues, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Here is the description:

“A performance piece that tackles our multiple intersections from a pan-ethnic, pan-generational, and pan-sexual viewpoint. As our communities continue to face deep crisis, JOTALOGUES gives voice to the most marginalized—and its not your typical queers. In this show, Adelina and D’Lo, enact zany characterizations to explore the effects of non-regulated human impact and destruction on our planet. Tackling the familiar tropes of racism, sexism, and homophobia, Anthony and D’Lo’s us their signature comedic chops to give us fresh insights into a very special ‘underground’ world.”

And the flier:

Queering Theory

posted by Eve Mitchell.

I was raised as a woman. In the past, when I thought about how I experienced patriarchy, I would think of the individual men who have abused me: my cousin who molested me when I was 9, my father who emotionally abused and dominated me, boyfriends who would argue with me for hours until I would have sex with them. Under Capitalism, we are taught to bear these experiences on an individual level and not to question the institutional foundations of patriarchy. Similarly, those of us raised as women are gendered to be conscious of how much space we absorb, what those around us may be thinking or feeling, to put others’ needs before our own, etc. I still carry a lot of pain and anger toward the individuals who have abused me, and the men who continue to subordinate women and queers, taking up space and shoving us aside. But, once I began organizing I started looking more at patriarchal institutions and their role in my gendered alienation. This post is about school, education, and the gendered role of “theory.”