Pat Manuel, Los Angeles-based U.S. female championship boxer and queer, poly Brown Boi has recently launched an online fitness resource for the masculine of center community. Get into it.…
In April and May, Sistah Sinema will screen Bumming Cigarettes – a narrative depicting its protagonist getting an HIV test. The film, produced by Black Womyn Conversations director/producer, Tiona McClodden, shows that we are all at risk for sexually transmitted infections regardless of our race, sexuality, or gender identity.…
OraQuick commercial advertises an at-home HIV testing kit! But, is it just me or did you also feel like you were transported to 1991 and forced to watch a weird version of Michael Jackson’s Black or White video? Also, what is up with the floating busts telling me that HiV isn’t a “black thing?” …
I want to Google “yoga” and see beautiful brown faces, queer bodies, masculine surrender and awareness in any and every size and shape. I’m tired of being the only brown person in the room; I’m even more tired of being the only brown person AND the only dude.…
Guest post from Sabina Ibarrola, Edited by Spectra. I don’t remember why exactly I first sought out Aurora Levins Morales’ Remedios in my college library, just that I did. I checked out the book and took it home, began reading on the subway ride back to Brooklyn. Reading her words felt like getting away with…
Cross-posted from www.spectraspeaks.com. Early this morning, I received a message from Jasmine Burems, a Black lesbian organic herbalist, who specializes in women’s wellness. She congratulated me on the success of my Africans for Africa campaign, and was hoping I’d lend support to her own project on IndieGoGo. Honestly, I receive so many requests like this,…
“There are so many myths about our queer lives that still exist in our Latin@ community; from queerness being a choice or a psychological disorder to us not wanting children and being possessed by demons. And we don’t talk about these issues because the cultural expectation (especially of our elders) is to not go against the grain.” Sarahi Yajaira
One Latina shares her struggle with expressing both her culture and her sexuality. …
Open a magazine or turn on the television and chances are good you’ll see someone talking about weight loss. In the United States, much of our media suggest that we are obsessed with our bodies, especially our waistlines. One ad sells a pill that will help you lose inches off your waist. Another ad tries…
Poetry is like a complicated dance; the movement of my pen and the steps of my heart working together to produce choreography that mirrors the shape of my soul. Poetry, to me, is the pure distillation of the human spirit. Poetry is the way I reveal the vital force that creates my being. It is…