|
Articles, Essays & videos, Plus Historical Fiction
|
|
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. While it is a significant landmark in disability rights, it only goes so far for the disabled community. If you're one of many people going undiagnosed, it can't protect you at all.
I didn’t know I qualified for protections under the ADA until I was finally diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at the age of 22. Sure, I had pediatric records indicating I was diagnosed with a tic disorder and “OCD traits” at eight years-old, but my neurologist was focused strictly on eliminating tics and the anxiety that caused them. He never offered resources or ways to cope with them on my own. For four years, my treatment only targeted eliminating bothersome symptoms so that I could appear more “normal” during my daily activities. This was ultimately a reflection on how I learned to live in a society as a disabled person: don’t tell anyone about your disability at all costs, or be treated as subhuman.
0 Comments
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
By Melissa Schack
GOODW.Y.N is a poet, author, podcaster, and performance artist based in New York. Her book, Warcries, is a collection of poems that will celebrate its 4th anniversary this year. She’s keeping busy with a podcast coming out this summer and a collection of poems that she shares a glimpse. You can catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook, or catch a reading with her on Instagram.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Guess who just got her author copies of Heaven Is a Photograph?! Yes, THIS curly girl! This collection of poems and photographs is all about a young artist's journey with photography. At first hesitant—even timid—she becomes increasingly bolder in her love affair with the lens.
I recorded a reading of a poem from the book and am happy to share it with you: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
By Ghia Vitale  Jacob Moses is a poetry wizard and spoken word artist from Staten Island, NY. Seance provides such an intimate glimpse into his mind, spirituality, and personal background, reading it feels as though you’re learning someone’s sacred secrets. It’s a psychology assessment, grimoire, and personal diary all at once.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
By The Editors  Disnie Sebastien is an artist from the beautiful island of Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean, now based in New York City. A Jane of all trades, she dabbles in many aspects of art, from acting and directing to video editing and house managing. Disnie has a B.F.A in Multimedia Performing Arts from Lehman College-CUNY in the Bronx. She has been fortunate to work with influential people in the entertainment industry, such as Trezana Beverly, Tony Award-winner, and George Lefferts, an executive producer for NBC & ABC. Recent credits include Google, Condé Nast, and Urban Stages’ Tourist Traps Theater festival. She hopes to continue to excel in her craft and touch lives through her artistry.
We asked Disnie, who stars in our poetry film "Butterflies" (and has appeared in a few other Quail Bell video projects!), some questions about what it's like to be a NYC artist for stage and screen, before and during the pandemic. Here's what she had to say: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
By Alex Carrigan  There are many roles women are expected to fulfill in their lives, whether it's being a good wife, a loving mother, a hard worker, etc. But what's really upsetting is how much of it comes from relinquishing control over their role to others. Whether it's having to listen to older women for advice on marital roles, or putting faith in doctors in regards to bodily autonomy, it's shocking how much women must fit into a box, but also how much responsibility they are left to bear if they fail to live up to expectations.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 Editor's Note: This piece was first published on Gayisfamily.com. Watch the companion video, an ode to womxn with body hair, here. Clam shells tweezers. Pumice stone razors. Flint stone hair shears. These were the varied, ingenious depilatory instruments that could be found adorning the grooming tables of the everyday ladies and gentlemen of yore. Even the likes of Egyptian Pharaohs and Roman emperors.
The Egyptians, though proud of their beards and bodily manes, shaved as a necessity, to fight the hot African sun. Alexander the Great, though initially aghast at their abject lack of body hair, soon realized how much more difficult it is for an enemy soldier to grab on to one's hairless, frictionless arms. So, he, too, shaved. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 In a time when everything is about social distancing, wearing masks, and simply staying home, traditional theatre is impossible. There is no way to produce and create the live theatre that we all know and love with current restrictions and recommendations in place. Luckily, theatre makers are notoriously inventive people and where there’s a will there’s a way. At the beginning of March (before the major onset of closure and postponements) I was notified that I would be directing at a new works short play festival produced by the Avonlea Theater Company and Cobb & Co located in Spanish Fork, UT. This festival eventually came to be titled Six Feet Apart, a virtual and COVID safe festival. I was to direct two plays, but as the festival got closer and alterations hadn’t been made to ensure the safety of cast and crew I considered pulling out of the festival. I am so glad I didn’t.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
By Ghia Vitale  Photo Credit: Sofiya Alexandra and Nick Ross Sofiya Alexandra is a feminist comedian who creates and posts #saddadcards along with illustrator Nick Ross. These cards offer a new take on dad humor as we know it today.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
July 2020
Categories |
RSS Feed
