By enakshi ganguly In Texas, we are finally feeling the onset of this bitter winter ahead of us. For some people of color, winter is a sad, sad, sad season, not only because of the drop in temperature, but also because of the gradual lack of sun light. Quite literally, it makes us feel SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), so we …
8 Ways to Support a Someone in an Abusive Relationship
By Jae Lin It is an incredible act of vulnerability for a person to open up about violence or abuse they are experiencing or have experienced in the past. Whether it’s a close friend, a family member, or a trusting community member, when someone reveals (either directly or indirectly) that they are experiencing a situation that may be abusive, violent, …
Ways to Decompress During Holiday Mania
By enakshi ganguly Tis the season to empty your wallets & run the streets to your local outlet mall! Even if you’re not somebody who really celebrates the holidays, our culture drastically shifts towards buying more, finding the best deals, and doing more for ourselves and others. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can definitely rev up the …
How to Make Friends in a Digital Era
By enakshi ganguly As someone who graduated over a year ago, one thing that has drastically changed for me is making friends. Whereas before, I used to see the same set of people during classes, at organization events and meetings, in the student lounge, now, I only see a very small group of people and they either work with …
Social & Holiday Depression for Queer People of Color
By Tarik Daniels For some people, the holidays are a time when we are the happiest. People’s energies are uplifting, people are joyous and thankful. Spirits are running high and it’s usually a time for love, family, and friendships. Most of these feelings and actions are organic because they are usually taught behaviors through traditions and societal norms. Who wouldn’t …
Walking in Winter
By enakshi ganguly Now that the weather is getting cooler, I just want to go into hibernation. I’ve been sleeping a lot more and eating more warm foods like soup and chilli. This is me every winter. This year though, I want to be more active, more engaging with the weather. This is sweater weather. Cuddling weather. Clean-off-the-summer-dust-from-the-crockpot kind of …
The Joys of Rain
By enakshi ganguly Back home, we think of rain as a blessing. When it rains during a funeral, a wedding or the birth of a baby, we give gratitude to the earth for witnessing us. The rain is romantic where I come from. It’s the motion the sky makes when it kisses the earth. I can go on and on …
What is Toxic Monogamy?
By Jae Lin Monogamy, the practice of having only one sexual and/or romantic partner at a time, in itself is not a bad, lesser, or toxic structure for romantic relationships. However, through its prevalence and influence in patriarchal and heteronormative systems, many harmful concepts of control and power have been entwined with common messages of what true love and monogamy …
How to Bike When You’re Scared to Bike
By ena ganguly I was in the 8th grade when I learned how to bike. My parents tried to teach me when I was younger, but the thought of leaving my training wheels behind always frightened me. And then, the ultimate betrayal happened when my Baba promised he was holding the back of my bike as I pedaled without the …
Ways to Ground Yourself
By ena ganguly Whether it is after a long hard day or after receiving shocking news, there are experiences that uproot us, knock us down, keeps us from re-orienting ourselves. It happens to everybody, but with the rate of violence against queer people of color, it happens to us at an alarming and unjust rate. Here are some ways I …
