Blog Archives - Page 7 of 24 - Lavender Phoenix

Image description: Zoom screenshot of 25 smiling faces. Some are holding up peace signs and heart signs.

Self-Determination & Queer Power: Reflections from the Summer Organizer Program (part 1!)

August 20, 2020 — — By Lavender Phoenix

To me, APIENC is love — love that the world desperately needs.

As a chronically ill, Việt, queer, nonbinary person, I felt unheard, othered, and silenced for far too long, by nearly everyone in my life in some way. I don’t blame them for that, but it hurt compartmentalizing myself. In that process, it began to be hard to see myself. The self became selves. I was often confused, constantly wondering why my relationship to love and vulnerability was missing something. I felt broken. I struggled to build support systems that held me.

Vulnerability is Power: Reflections from LEX 2020

August 16, 2020 — — By Lavender Phoenix

There I was, on a zoom call with over 30 people who I had just met the weekend before, having a vulnerable one-on-one conversation with Sammie for everyone to watch.

This was during the third session of APIENC’s annual Leadership Exchange, or LEX for short. Usually, LEX is an in-person, 2 weekend-long training for trans and queer API organizers, but this was no usual year. Since meeting in person wasn’t an option, APIENC held LEX over 6 weekends, over zoom. I had just started as one of APIENC’s Summer Organizers when I signed up for LEX, not knowing what to expect.

Image description: Black text in all caps over pink/orange gradient background.

We Are Trans Asian and Pasifika Leaders in Defense of Black Lives

June 11, 2020 — — By Lavender Phoenix

We are non-Black people of Asian and Pasifika (A&PI) descent, and we are trans, nonbinary, and many Indigenous cultural gender identities¹. We span many movements, many generations, and many organizations. We affirm the value of Black lives, unconditionally. We are in defense of Black life. We fight for and alongside Black people, Black uprisings, and

Black Lives Matter.

May 28, 2020 — — By sammie

We, as trans and queer Asians and Pacific Islanders, believe that everybody has a role in dismantling anti-Blackness.

Image description: Vince stands on the sidewalk, smiling and holding a sign that says "Trans is Beautiful" in pink lettering and surrounded blue hearts.

I attribute my survival to the healing that comes with community.

April 22, 2020 — — By Lavender Phoenix

I don’t remember the year; I was 24, maybe 25, when I went to visit a friend in St. Vincent’s Hospital on 7th Ave in New York City. I never found him. The hospital was overrun with AIDS patients and didn’t have enough beds, so those who didn’t have a room laid on gurneys in

Image description: a pier jets out into marshy land, the sky is partly cloudy. there are trees in the background.

Three Takeaways on Environmental Justice from PGM ONE

June 7, 2019 — — By Lavender Phoenix

Environmental and climate justice work is an emerging part of APIENC’s organizing and politics. APIENC’s TTAC (Think and Take Action Cohort) brings together and inspires queer and transgender Asian and Pacific Islander (QTAPI) people in the SF Bay Area to engage and take action to stop climate and environmental injustices, particularly as they affect Black

Image description: Black italicized text over orange brushstroke pattern that reads "APIENC @ SF PRIDE". In the background is an image, for the most part hidden, of TGNC API people marching and holding a banner that reads "NO PRIDE FOR SOME OF US WITHOUT LIBERATION FOR ALL OF US."

Honoring Our Legacies: APIENC at SF Pride

May 28, 2019 — — By Lavender Phoenix

APIENC won Community Grand Marshal of SF Pride 2019 by public vote. This is an honor and a responsibility. With increased police presence, heavy corporate involvement, and impact on the local underhoused communities, SF Pride is far from its radical roots. When we won, we didn’t know what to do. But we wanted to be

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