As we move from May to June: we're going from a heritage month celebrating one aspect of my self-identity (South Asian) to one celebrating another (Queer Gay Girl).
As y’all know - I live my life as an openly out queer, gay, brown, South-Asian-ish cis-woman. [Big Thanks to my found / chosen fam, to queer folks who held space for me along the way, and to allies who stood up / stand up for me].
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a major chip on my shoulder about one or the other aspects of this mutli-tiered identity. It all felt so burdensome and so othering: as if I had to justify, or live up to, or combat other people’s perception around some or all of these things.
Over the last few years - through conversations with strangers & friends, therapy, and working in food systems, and climate more recently - I’ve found myself settling in more and more into the beauty & insanity of holding all these different parts of my identity in the same bowl - even when they’re not all “together”. (Have I mentioned I’m a classic Late Bloomer?)
A lot of my misgivings about heritage months were / are rooted in a related idea that they offer spotlight a specific “thing” (being Black, being Asian, being LGBTQIA+), in a limited way, for a limited period of time & then - poof - the world moves on. But I’ve grown to appreciate that in an inherently inequitable world, heritage months create a space to center acknowledge, reflect and celebrate different aspects of our world and of our identities. (We contain multitudes, y’all!)
I’m still working out what that means for building a just, equitable & queer business in Ojaswe Co.. and learning from peers and those who came before me (incl. this queer business manifesto from Diaspora Co.)
Have thoughts or resources on any of this? Reply & Let me know.
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And before I sign off - a quick status update: We are 75% of the way to our $10k goal on our crowdfunding campaign for Ojaswe Co.
We’re using all these funds to onboard new farmers, stay in compostable packaging and grow our mission to create climate-resilient food systems.
You get back 20% more than what you put in. (In credits to the store, distributed over a six month period). E.g. Give $100, Get back $120.
If you have the means to support & haven’t already, please contribute here.