July 2024 Update
ID: “July Monthly Update www.freedomoklahoma.org/news” with our logo and three background images from left to right showing posters of June’s Dyke March, a person taking a picture of people on a stage, and a photo of a person wearing a Freedom Oklahoma t shirt and holding a rainbow fan.
We practice hope to sustain us, and we cannot sustain ourselves on hope alone.
Raymond Williams said, “To be truly radical is to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing.” As we prepare to take some rest this month, we invite you to join us in focusing on the people, the spaces, and experiences that give you hope. What does that list look like when you’re really paying attention? I’ll start.
Hope is take a break. Here, have a seat. I brought you a coffee (of course it’s oat milk). When is the last time you ate? Drank water? I can take care of this, go rest. Hope is sitting next to the person you love, watching The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers additionally extended edition in a movie theater, and feeling the same kind of magic as the first time you watched it (maybe that’s not a particularly relatable example). It’s a cat snuggling their way to nap next to you. It’s sharing videos across apps that remind you of someone, that made you laugh, that you find relatable. It’s group messages. It’s this made me think of you. Hope is I love yous, enthusiastically, and with abundance. Hope is not looking away. It’s saying with our whole selves that there’s enough liberation for all of us. It’s solidarity, in action. It’s the wildflowers, peeking through the tops of grass as summer comes. It’s lightning bugs (or fireflies, depending on where you’re from). Hope is showing up when you can, knowing that we must do this work, but not at the expense of ourselves, and never alone. Hope is saying we need to rest, and having folks step in to hold space until we can come back.
This work we’re building with you, that’s hope. We practice hope to sustain us, and we cannot sustain ourselves on hope alone.
It’s July and we’re tired. Tired of watching a genocide livestreamed. Tired of not having space to grieve. Tired of being under attack. Tired of never ending gofundmes, trying to pool resources from those of us with the least, when we know there’s more than enough when we share. Tired of people looking away. Tired. Tired. Tired. So, this July, we’re committing to rest.
And we know that we can’t self care our way out of this. We create hope through community, through shared resources, through shared responsibility, and a shared commitment to resting, rather than demanding folks burn themselves out.
Throughout the month of July, you'll encounter out of office messages from each member of the Freedom Oklahoma team. We realize it's a privilege to do this work, and we take the responsibility of it very seriously. And with that, we hope to model radical vulnerability and space for rest. Because this work is heavy and exhausting, and it cannot be done if our shared expectation is rooted in unsustainable levels of performance and burnout. We know the work never stops, but we're especially grateful for everyone to allow us this moment of pause, reflection, and recovery, as we look towards a busy fall season, and another busy year ahead. We're grateful to do this work with you. And we remain hopeful that together we’re building a future where we all have the safety to thrive.
In solidarity,
Nicole McAfee (they/she)
Executive Director
Important Links and updates:
a shift in availability this month
This month, the Freedom Oklahoma staff will be available at a limited capacity to rest and recover after a busy Oklahoma Legislative session that led right into a beautiful Pride Month. We also will not be hosting our virtual 2SLGBTQ+ Community Groups this month. As we try to manage these adjusted schedules, we’ll try our best to get back to you as soon as we are able. You can reach out to info@freedomoklahoma.org for any general requests.
The Freedom Sessions 2024 Conference Early registration!
Early registration for our 2nd annual The Freedom Sessions Conference is now live! Looking to learn how to build community, create sustainable advocacy, hear from groups working for 2SLGBTQ+ liberation, and more? Then join us virtually on Saturday, August 24th, from 10am - 4pm! This year’s theme is Safety to Thrive. Register at the link below to hear more about how we keep us safe. We look forward to seeing you in August!
we’ve got interns!
In June, 2 youth interns joined our Freedom Oklahoma team to support our work this Summer! Our Program Intern has a background in student organizing and will be helping with events, programs, research projects, and more. Our Communications Intern, Aurora (they/them), is a third year political science student and a proud Tulsan. They will support our comms work, including social media, website maintenance, and our monthly newsletter.
Euphoria quilting PROJECT
The Euphoria Quilt is a trans and queer group quilt made of blocks sent in by over 150 people that answer the question, “What does your gender expansive joy look like?” It is currently on a nationwide quilting bee tour to be hand-quilted with community support. They'll be in Tulsa on July 20th at the Tulsa City-Count Library and in Oklahoma City on July 21st at the Downtown Library.
All are welcome to join, regardless of sewing experience. Come by and add your own stitches to the quilt! Masks required. More information here: https://www.instagram.com/euphoriaquilt/
