Since 1979, Black August has honored the Black political prisoners, Black freedom fighters, and efforts for Black liberation. Originally attributed to honoring the August deaths of Jonathan and George Jackson, though August also marks several key dates in the fight for Black revolutionary moments, along with the birthdays of many Black revolutionaries including Debbie Sims Africa of MOVE (Aug 4), Mutulu Shakur (Aug 8), Marcus Garvey (Aug 17), and Fred Hampton (Aug 30).

Because movement building is nothing if not an experiment in building the infrastructure for the future we deserve. 

In one of Frederick Douglass’s many brilliant orations, he posed the question, what to the negro is the fourth of July? It’s something I think about this time of year more and more. If you’re newly grappling with disentangling yourself from the myth of this nation on the Fourth of July, I offer you this…

his morning, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in two cases — West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox — brought to the Supreme Court by states defending categorical bans on transgender women and girls participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams. The Supreme Court upheld anti-trans sports bans enacted in Idaho and West Virginia, holding that these laws do not violate either Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause. 

In response to the rulings, Freedom Oklahoma issued the following statement, attributable to Cole McAfee (they/them), Executive Director…

Being a small organization (we currently have 2 full time staff, and 2 paid interns) can present a grave disadvantage for the quests set before us. And, it also allows us to be nimble, and get creative with how we craft fellowship and approach obstacles. 

The most recent Resource Tracking Report produced by Funders for LGBTQ Issues shows that for every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations in 2023, only 3.5 cents supported transgender, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary (TGNCNBi) communities, which was a decrease from 4.6 cents per $100 awarded in 2022. And in a state like Oklahoma, we know those disparities hit even harder.

If you know me, you know I love a list. I love an extended metaphor. I love an involved caption. I love something that becomes a ritual, a practice, a habit. I really love something that combines all of those things together.

One of our favorite things to do is practice liberation in collaboration. We get closer to building the world we want when we work together. 

The song Solidarity Forever was written in 1915 for the Industrial Workers of the World a movement dedicated to class solidarity across labor and among all the working class, whose revolutionary politics have made it the target of much government targeting, propaganda, and malignment, including from other union entities who fear it is too radical, too decentralized, too welcoming to the most marginalized and transient to organize with.

I know springtime means so many things for each of us. For me, it really starts with the grounding of Taurus season (maybe I’m biased, because it’s also my birthday season). I love this time of year, because like a plant, I thrive in the sunshine, in the chance to get out in the earth, in the promise of brighter days ahead and the chance to gather with loved ones to grow that which feeds us (literally and figuratively).