Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene

Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene is an Ijaw and Urhobo Nigerian dyke performance activist, poet, dancer, essayist, playwright, actress, video blogger and mixed media visual artist who was born with a mouth full of dynamite and sugarcane. She uses her poetry to chisel a verbal sculpture of her soul for listeners while addressing issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, war, imperialism, love, self-esteem and family. Etaghene has self-published three collections of poetry, toured nationally and performed in over 30 u.s. cities. She was interviewed by and was a Contributing Writer to None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa, a sound documentary project that collects the stories of QLGBT Africans from the African Continent and the Diaspora. She has toured nationally with her multi-media one-woman show, Volcano’s Birthright{s}. Etaghene is a mixed-media visual artist who has produced 4 solo art exhibitions. In June 2012, Etaghene founded Sugarcane, an LGBTQ Of Color writing workshop based in the principles of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People.

Etaghene has written and directed 2 poem videos (“The First Time” [2010] and “i deserve somebody” [2011]) that marry film, poetry and music. Etaghene has self-published 3 chapbooks of poetry: afrocrown: fierce poetry (2000),write or die (2004) and tongue twisted transcontinental sista (2006.) She independently released an album of poetry and music entitled liberty avenue, nigeria, usa (2004.) She has shared stages with Amina Baraka, Bonfire Madigan, Sharon Bridgforth, Staceyann Chin, climbing poeTree, Invincible, DJ Kuttin Kandi, Lenelle Moïse, DJ Moni, Queen GodIs, Ongina Ryan, Hanifah Walidah & innumerable other brilliant magic-makers.

Why Prop 8's Days are Numbered [Examiner]

One year ago Thursday, a federal court in California ruled that Proposition 8, a 2008 voter approved initiative which denies gay and lesbian couples the right to marry in California, is unconstitutional. Although the case is now up against the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, there are a few reasons to believe that the days of this discriminatory law are numbered.

FULL ARTICLE

For Gay Christian Musicians, Work Balances Faith, Art, Love [NPR]

Jeniffer Knapp

Many Christian denominations denounce homosexuality as a sin. As a result, gay Christian singers, songwriters and musicians face a challenge in balancing their art, their sexuality and their faith. For those few who have decided to come out, it has meant giving up successful careers.

Singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp has sold more than a million albums and earned Dove Awards on the strength of songs like her 1998 hit, "Undo Me." But in 2002, at the height of her career as a contemporary Christian artist, Knapp suddenly stopped making music.

"Knowing that I was going to have to publicly deal with my sexuality — it really made me consider how much I wanted to participate in music," Knapp says.

Seven years later, Knapp reemerged, no longer self-identified as a Christian artist — instead, she was a folk-rock musician, a person of faith and a lesbian. Knapp says that even after all that time, she still had doubts about coming forward.

"It made me very hesitant to get back up into the public level, knowing that there would be discussion about my sexuality on the whole," she says.

FULL ARTICLE

Prop 8 Arguments [Cherry Grrl]

The California Supreme Court will hear arguments on September 6th as to whether proponents of Proposition 8 have the legal standing to appeal Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision striking down the ballot measure. The court will hear oral arguments on a question of whether under state law proponents of initiatives have standing to defend their initiatives when they are challenged in court. The question was certified to them by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit earlier this year. In response to the court’s scheduling order, Chad Griffin, American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) Co-Founder and Board President, had the following to say: “I am very pleased that the Supreme Court of California calendared our case for the first day of their fall session. The governor and attorney general of California – and the United States District Court – all have found Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

Youth Say Race Still Matters—So What Are They Doing About It? [COLORLINES]

COLORLINES

by Juell Stewart 

Earlier this month, our publisher released a report, “Don’t Call Them Post-Racial,” which surveyed attitudes about race in key systems in U.S. society among young adults 18-25. Dom Apollon’s research team conducted focus groups with dozens of young people in the Los Angeles area, and learned that their thoughts on race are far more nuanced than most polling and commentary has suggested. Theirs is the most diverse generation in U.S. history, but that doesn’t make them post-race. Rather, the young people in the focus groups made clear that they believed race still matters today. 

The young people struggled for language to define racism and they differed across racial groups in how they saw race impacting society. But they identified race as a “significant problem” in a few key areas, with all racial groups agreeing that race remained a problem for both criminal justice and employment. Young people of color identified education as a particular trouble spot as well. 

They also differed in what they thought should be done about these problems—while white Millennials, as this generation has been dubbed, largely identified racism as driven by individuals and demanding individual solutions, young people of color were more likely to identify racism as a collective problem that demands political action to resolve. As Apollon wrote, “All of these ideas are crucial to understand because they also shape how this generation will choose to act upon racism and racial injustice.”

So to make these ideas more concrete, we talked to five organizations and campaigns that are working with Millennials to tackle racism as a collective, systemic problem rather than an individualized, personal one. Here’s what they had to say about their work.

FULL ARTICLE

Federal Warnings Hit Medical Pot Boom [NPR]

From California to Arizona, Colorado to Maine, states across the country are legalizing the sale of medical marijuana. Recent warnings from U.S. attorneys, however, are making local governments rethink their plans.

Seth Bock stands in what's supposed to be one of Rhode Island's first medical marijuana stores. His group was going to install grow lights and a ventilation system this week, but not anymore.

"We can't really invest any money into the carpentry and the building process until we know that this will go on," he says.

But that could take a while. Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has put the program on hold indefinitely. The reason: a letter he received from the U.S. Attorneys' Office that said Rhode Island's so-called compassion centers could face federal raids, fines or criminal prosecution if they open.

"The U.S. attorney was very direct," governor's spokesman Michael Trainor says. "The governor believes that if we proceed on the present course, he'd be putting the compassion centers and people associated with compassion centers at great risk."

Rhode Island's letter is similar to those sent to at least eight other states with medical marijuana programs. Advocates believe the threats are a dramatic change from the Obama administration's original stance on medical marijuana. The Justice Department has refused to clarify its decision, saying only that its policy remains the same. It says the U.S. attorneys assigned to each state have "discretion" about how to enforce that policy.

FULL ARTICLE

Jennah Bell

Hailing from the Bay Area in Northern California, Jennah Bell's style incorporates her unique and diverse upbringing. Music became a very serious career choice when she was blessed with the opportunity to attend a wonderful summer program affiliated with the Grammy Foundation. A competitive audition process placed her as one of 11 singer/songwriters from around the U.S. Her peers, elders, and music business professionals (Paul Williams, Jimmy Jam, INXS, David Foster) embraced her unorthodox writing style, alternative/folk/soul song melodies, and endearing honest vocals. This gave her the courage and motivation she needed to apply to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. She has had the privilege and honor to sit down with Paul Simon and work on some of her original tunes this past year and became part of some very special music project called Making Music Herstory (http://makingmusicherstory.com/mmh/). Now at 22, nearing the end of her Berklee experience, she has committed to spreading love through her music one planet at a time...

EP coming out March 1st?

http://www.jennahbell.com
http://www.myspace.com/jennahbell

Love Me If You Dare (A Tragik Film) [*****]

ALERT! San Francisco Queer Women & Genderqueer People of Color

I'm not going to say how jealous I am right now...

Free: Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project Workshops
Two free workshops are being offered starting this month:

Workshop for LBTQGNC Youth of Color (18 to 25 yrs)
Mondays, Jan 24-May 9, 2011 6:30-9:30pm

This workshop is offered to LBTQGNC Youth of Color (18 to 25 yrs):
Queer women, Lesbian, Bisexual, Same-Gender-Loving, Two-Spirit, Transgender, or Questioning young women of color and Genderqueer/Gender Non-conforming youth of color who are African Descent/Black, Asian/South Asian, South West Asian/North African, Pacific Islander, Chicana/Latina, Native American/
Indigenous/First Nations & Mixed-race. 

Youth Workshop Registration Form

Workshop for Queer Women & Genderqueer People of Color (no age restrictions)
Thursdays, Jan 27-May 12, 6:30-9:30pm

This workshop is offered to:
Queer women, Lesbian, Bisexual, Same-Gender-Loving,Two-Spirit, Transgender, or Questioning women of color and Genderqueer/Gender Non-conforming folks of color who are African Descent/Black, Asian/South Asian, South West Asian/
North African, Pacific Islander, Chicana/Latina, Native American/
Indigenous/First Nations & Mixed-race.

OBEY THE KITTY X BETSEY JOHNSON X LADY TRAGIK

More Lady Tragik:

Femcee: Lady L.U.S.T.

Oakland based femcee Lady Lust. I dig it.

"You the reason that I hope that they overturn the proposition. So I was wonderin..."

America's First Transgender Trial Judge

As a Louisiana native, this story excites me because California's newly elected MTF trial judge, Victoria Kolakowski, is originally from Louisiana. In particular, she's from my neck of the woods, the southeast. 

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A California judge with big ties to Louisiana is making history because she was once a man.

Judge Victoria Kolakowski is the first transgender person ever to be elected as a trial judge.

Kolakowski previously served as an administrative law judge before winning her election in California.

The judge's website touts her election as one that made history.

Kolakowski has several degrees.

She's a graduate of UNO, Tulane and LSU Law and actually had to sue to take the bar exam in Louisiana after declaring herself a transsexual.

Copyright 2010 WAFB. All rights reserved.

Lady Tragik

I was clicking my way through GO! Magazine's "100 Women We Love Class of 2010" and ran across San Francisco-based, former spoken-word artist Lady Tragik. She seemed coo', so I delved deeper. And I soon discovered that she is indeed coo'. Most importantly, she's a creative with great taste in music who makes music (among a lot of other things). I thought I'd share. Check her out! There's sure to be plenty of lomography and electronica involved. She kinda makes me want to buy some American Apparel... I don't know how I feel about that...

Are You a Monster Girl? A Loud and Inappropriate Woman Wants to Know.

Jessa Crispin

NPR.org

Erika Lopez could not have known she was releasing her raucous, racy and hilarious breakthrough novel Flaming Iguanas at the end of an era. It was 1998, and despite the 1990s being a decade of riot grrls and Manic Panic, a time when girls had rock goddesses like PJ Harvey, Sleater Kinney, Hole and Bikini Kill to emulate rather than rock gods to fawn over, it was all about to disappear.

Post-pubescent pop stars took over, the 'zine culture died off and Courtney Love became plastic surgery roadkill. Suddenly, Lopez — a performance artist and cartoonist as well as novelist — was out of fashion, her spunky, prickly, foul-mouthed writing style and tales of booze, men (and women) and motorcycles did not fit in with the current milieu of pre-packaged stardom and yoga spirituality.

"One must dare to be alienated and cast aside."

"'Erika Lopez is an American original!.... Lopez won't have to worry about food stamps in the future!'" read one Flaming Iguanas review. Twelve years later, in her new The Girl Must Die: A Monster Girl Memoir, Lopez responds: "Well, not only do I have to worry about food stamps again, I just had to go and add welfare. Welfare."

The Girl Must Die delves into Lopez's vivid personal history: her abduction by her father during a custody dispute; her upbring by a radical feminist mother who took up with women after her marriage failed; the prostitutes and bad influences who were her childhood companions. But, ultimately, the book is more manifesto than memoir. Lopez is longing for another cultural shift, for our entire society to go through a rite of passage. "The girl must die," she tells us, so that the woman can live.

She relates her own sense of failure — her hitting-bottom moment came while waiting in line for social services, wearing the shoes of a friend who had killed herself — to a society that rewards greed and brought itself to economic collapse. Lopez credits her own creative resuscitation to founding a community — Monster Girl Media, which published this book — of artists, filmmakers and writers who collaborate and promote each others' work. She wants the culture that is currently in love with girlishness, Brazilians and Barbie blondes like Paris Hilton, to rediscover the loud, inappropriate woman. And Lopez is certainly loud and inappropriate.

The Girl Must Die is heavily illustrated with Lopez's artwork, mixing graffiti, tattoo and comic-book styles with wild abandon. Her writing is a similar amalgam of breathless tirade, stream of consciousness, aphorism and traditional autobiographical narrative. The result is a call to arms. "Do whatever it takes to finally grow up and have a full slice of pie, because we need you and all that you know." She wants to rally the monster that lives in every girl and bring back the gritty, guitar- and gun-slinging women who disappeared after the 1990s. I'm a Monster Girl. Are you?

Read an excerpt here.

Justice Prevails for Oscar Grant?

http://colorlines.com/

Oscar Grant wasn't the only life senselessy profiled and/or taken on New Years 2009. Adolph Grimes III and Robbie Tolan were also victims, and these are just the ones I heard about. Growing up in Louisiana, black men getting beat down or excessively shot up by the police was not (and apparently is not) uncommon. I haven't forgotten a single story. And I know to some it can sound like a sign-of-the-time story from high school history class. But it's not. And though it never goes overlooked by the community, the thing about the south, that isn't like the west, is people of color don't speak out. We swallow it and chalk it up to "that's just how it is." But unlike Adolph and Robbie, Oscar was murdered in the west, people took note, havoc was raised by everyone, and now ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle awaits sentencing after already spent 146 days in jail. Mehserle will serve a minimum of two years for the life he took and the pain he's caused. And it's still sad. Not only because this murderer may only get 2 years, but also because Oscar would have been further swept under the rug if so many people had not gotten angry.

Prop 19 Fails

We'll have to wait for stress-free stress-relief awhile longer, it seems. Just imagine all the tax revenue that could be made by legalizing marijuana (that very special plant that doesn't cause cancer, destroy your liver or make you violent)? Ever wonder why marijuana was illegalized in the first place? Look it up. 

And according to the New York Times, there are also other things to be disheartened about:

- Rhode Island voters decided not to change the name of the state, which is officially “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” I'm curious how that happened... There must be some sort of reasoning.

- Arizona put an end to affirmative action programs. WTF? (But not surprised)

- Oklahoma made English its official language. To what aim? Only the Lord knows.

And in other news! Election results.

Well, that about does it for now, folks! Until next time...

Let's Talk about Sex

Most people who have sex like sex. And if you are having sex and don't like it, you may be doing it wrong. Just saying. But since we're on the subject, I have something very important to tell you about: Good Vibes. When I first started exploring the toy aspect of my sex life, or rather when I first started exploring whether I wanted a toy aspect, I turned to Smitten Kitten. I found the name and website approachable. And because they made my foray into lesbo sex toys so smooth and unobtrusive, I repay them with the greatest gift I can give--loyalty. And just let me say this: first time sex shop experiences for semi-ex-Catholics is much less traumatizing than the first visit to the gynecologist. Back to online sex shops... 

I've realized that it's time for the Smitten Kitten to share some love, and let Good Vibes into my life for one reason and one reason only: they allow customers to purchase porn podcasts for a third of the price of buying a DVD. And so that thing that's been on my mind for months now (that whole explore the real lesbian porn scene thing to see if I actually don't like it or just needed to see it done right) suddenly becomes affordable and more convenient all at once. Honestly, I'm 23 years old, and I live with people who aren't my lovers (or gay for that matter). What do I need a DVD for? I'm not going to be watching it in the living room. 

This all brings me to that second very important thing to tell you about: Tight Places: A Drop of Color. O-M-G. There, I've said it. Now, when some blossoming queer asks you where she can find quality lesbian porn by and for lesbians, you won't have to say, "Ummmmm... Crash Pad?" For less than $11, my iTunes is fully equipped with a podcast of sexy women of color and a sexy ftm getting it on in the Bay.

Tea and Me

I'm into honesty. I'm so much into honesty that I've been called things like "asshole" or "a mean nice-person." And in the spirit of honesty, I admit that I have an obsessive personality. And I'm not obsessive in a creepy sort of way. It's more of a why-is-Lady-more-interested-in-the-color-of-that-nail-polish-than-this-conversation, or can-Lady-please-stop-talking-about-tea-for-one-goddamn-minute. Some people find it frustrating, others endearing. I try to not let the cute ones know until after they've fallen for me. And the truth is... I really do obsess over intoxicating colors and tea. But I'm not here to talk about color today; I'm here to talk about tea.

The Journey

Lots of queer women love tea. It's not just me. Honest! And for all you ladies who love tea, or even just like tea, I'm about to introduce you to a world of deliciousness neither of us can afford... but that I buy anyway. It's called Samovar. Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco turned me from a tea liker to a tea enthusiast. In fact, it was a little fateful. I've only happened upon San Francisco once, and in that time, the older sister of one of my besties was telling me about this cool, overpriced restaurant sitting above Yerba Buena Gardens (gorgeous) that she enjoyed. A couple months later, I was rumaging through my parents' pantry and found a bag of farm fresh Iron Goddess of Mercy that my brother had brought back from China. It tasted like spring morning. Right then and there, I decided to kick the Coca-Cola habit and drink tea (and failed... Hey, it happens. I drink both). In my search to find a tea that compared, I was lucky. I decided to go with this company I found online which turned out to be the restaurant my friend's sister was telling me about. It didn't take me long to make the connection. And I've yet to find a more superior tea in the United States (nor has any tea topped the chinese tea from my parents' pantry. Did I mention it had been sitting there two years, unsealed and everything? It was probably stale... and still amazing).

It's hard with tea because quality is determined by leaf size, not by how delicious the tea will be when brewed. You can have a canister of beautiful, consistent whole-leaf tea, but if it wasn't stored properly, it can be insipid and stale (ahem, Teavana). So, finding a tea company you can trust can be a pricey endeavor. But for the health benefits you're getting, it's worth the investment.

Health Benefits

There are a ton of resources online about the ridiculous health benefits to drinking tea. So, I'm not going to go into detail about how the stuff damn near cures cancer. But it's important to know that the tea that offers abundant health benefits doesn't come bagged for your steeping convenience. I know. Lame-sauce. The higher the quality of the tea (meaning the size of the leaf), the more health benefits you'll get. And if you've noticed, the tea that come in baggies don't look like leaves at all, and in the world of tea, it's called dust. During the processing of tea, the leaves are separated according to size and graded as such. The biggest, most whole leaves are premium, and this goes all the way down to the lowest quality, called dust. The dust is what goes into your grocery store bagged teas. So if you're drinking tea for more than just the taste, this is something you might want to consider.

Another thing to consider when drinking tea is caffeine-free tea. Let's get something straight, all tea is naturally caffeinated. The only tea that is naturally decaf is herbal... and herbal teas technically aren't tea; they're twigs and berries (and also extremely good for you). So when a tea (i.e., black, oolong, green, white) says it's decaf, it has been exposed to chemicals to remove the caffeine. Black teas tend to have your highest caffeine levels, oolong and green teas are spread across the middle, and white teas have very low caffeine levels.

Happy drinking.