Do It!: Springning into Action

A message to all members of Quirky Black Girls

"The best way to do it IS TO DO IT!" Toni Cade Bambara

Greetings loved ones!!!
It's been a while....I've been walking around stunned and thrilled that my dissertation is finished and Spring has arrived. Will wonders never cease. For me this past week has been about living in the future I've been hard-core imaging and creating for myself and some thought about the shift from what has felt to me like a Black Feminist baptism in the awkward and unlikely form of the dissertation to my life which for the next couple years feels like a Black Feminist Practicum. Let's make it real.
Not coincidentally, the spirit guide mid-wife for this journey has been the Black Feminist warrior writer, editor, film-maker, educator, organizer Toni Cade Bambara. I spent last week creating a podcast to celebrate the 71st birthday of this beautiful example of passion embodied who we lost to cancer 15 years ago. You can listen to the podcast and learn more about Toni Cade Bambara here: http://brokenbeautiful.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/happy-birthday-toni...
Reading Toni Cade Bambara's work every morning and spending time talking to folks who loved and learned from her and singing her praises at Queer Black Sunday School has left me feeling interconnected, faithful and excited about life!
Here's what I'm up to with BrokenBeautiful Press:
http://brokenbeautiful.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/eternal-summer-for-real-the-spring-update/

I strongly invite you to participate in the study that dissertating QBG Nikki Young is up to with her work on queer family creation and ethics:

Dear Atlanta Community,

My name is Thelathia “Nikki” Young, and I am a Black queer doctoral
candidate at
Emory University. I have lived in
Atlanta since 2001 and have enjoyed the energy, generosity of spirit,
displays
of solidarity, and stands for justice that I have witnessed in this
city’s
Black queer community. Through
your work in the community and mere visibility in the city, you have
motivated
me as a scholar and activist – so much so that I have
focused my
dissertation on you! As part of my
dissertation research, I am seeking Black queer adults (18 and over) in
the
metro-Atlanta area to participate in interviews and possibly in focus
groups.

Research Subject

My study, titled The Black Queer Family Project, investigates the ways
in which
Atlanta Black queer people understand, value, and construct “family.”
I invite you to participate in
interviews and focus groups wherein you will be asked to share
narratives of
your own life experiences that contribute to your definition(s) and
practice(s)
of “family” as a queer person of color.
The purpose of this research is to contribute information to my
larger
project, which puts Black queer experiences and narratives in
conversation with
Womanist and Feminist ethics as well as Queer Theories. My
study aims to acknowledge our voices
and experiences and make them available in community and academic
discussions
of family and familial practices.

Involvement

I am asking participants to be interviewed for approximately 1.5 hours,
though the
interviews may be longer or shorter depending on your preference.
Participants in focus groups will only
be asked to attend three sessions that last approximately 1.5 hours
each. This means that the total commitment
from participants ranges from 1.5 hours to 6 hours.

Basically, I will engage subjects that include family make-up, family structure,
familial
practices, relationship constructions, moral motivations, and ethical
standards
in relation to familial relationships.

Eligibility

I am only seeking persons who are at least 18 years of age and who
self-identify as
Black queer Atlanta residents.

· “Self-identify”
–
individuals whose sexuality and/or relationship status is commonly
known via
statement, title, or any official public documentation, and/or through
personal
disclosure in their homes, communities, workplaces, and social
affiliations.

· “Black,”
–
in this study, refers to anyone who self-identifies as a person of
African
descent. Subjects are not limited
to African-Americans and thus may include Atlanta residents whose nation
of
origin is outside of the United States.

• “Queer” – in this study, is used as an umbrella term that includes individuals who are lesbian,
  gay,
  bisexual, transgender, questioning, gender-queer, polyamorous, and
  sexually non-identifying.
• Residency includes partial or full-time status in the metro-Atlanta area.

This study will not include any persons who do not meet the criteria above.
This study also excludes any persons
who meet the criteria but who are enrolled in a K-12 institution.

If you are interested, please contact me via email at tyoung3@learnlink.emory.edu
or
via telephone at 404-643-1339. I am looking forward to hearing you and
learning
about your family!

With great respect for you,

Thelathia “Nikki” Young, M.Div, Th. M

Doctoral Candidate – Graduate Division of Religion, Ethics and Society

Emory University

Tyoung3@learnlink.emory.edu

404-643-1339

And please holler at us with other news of the goodness that is in bloom this season!!!!
love,
QBG Lex