cripchick's blog
another shapeshifter living among the digital masses
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November 21st, 2009API-A, identity, intersections, women of color, writing/poetryi watch as she slips, slides and slithers through systems
digesting all your identities
for dinner
smile so slick, her pretty two forked tongue
draws you in while worlds sit
silently in the pit
of her bellywe did not ask for this—she changes shape again—but it doesn’t matter does it?
she pauses for a moment and smiles a knowing smile
“ah cham neh! shapeshifting is in your blood but you’re so young i bet you do not even know when you are doing it
talking some masters’ tools will never dismantle the masters’ house shit while negotiating in meetings with people whose only interest is in silencing you
but it’s okay sis, we do that to survive
you are the one that got a chance when no one else did
just swallow them up and know that’s what you are:
a shapeshifter”i sit with her quietly as she holds her child against her chest, writing at the table
writing is a record of her stories, an account of all the characters she’s played,
the only way she can remember who she is
“it all gets lost so easily, the different people society want me to be”this time i am the one smiling knowingly.
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October 16th, 2009ableism, activism, colonization, violence, women of color, writing/poetry
i’ll scream it again & again—
no matter how eager, how radical, how cute you are
i do not exist for your fancy of freakery.
i could care less about feeding your taste for exotic flavors. i was not born to stroke your fascination of marginalized people.
no matter how much you are learning, no matter how much power/money/influence you carry, no matter how much you always know the right things to say,
my body is not for you to examine, conquer, or casually observe
as if the strands of my hair were nothing more than pages of a magazinethe creator did not craft these hands, lungs, feet of mine so you can feel good about yourself. my issues are not for you to solve.
who said you could analyze me? i am not a hobby, a project, a case study
nor will i ever be a pet to collect
in that menagerie of yoursinstead i am harriet tubman using her disability to trick slavemasters, survey lands, and carve out paths to freedom
i am the spear waiting in datu lapu lapu’s right hand, standing with thousands ready to slice the colonizer’s head off of magellan’s body
i am the body casts frida kahlo painted on
i am the freedom song my joseon ancestors sung, the taegukis wrapped around their foreheads as they demanded an end to tyrannyno matter how quick i was to hand you this hard-earned self-determination in the past, know that from now on, you are being watched. vigilantly.
flip it, spit it out in a poem, brand it on the tip
of your tongue
do whatever you have to do
to remember -
October 8th, 2009feminism, in place of a diary, intersections, women of color, writing/poetry
the more i sit in your meetings
participate in your organizations
wake up next to you
shake hands with you, make deals with you
love youthe more i become an expert
in your don’t knows
like
you don’t know how to sit in a circle
so you plant yourself
in the middleyou don’t know who you are
instead you imitate my hair my clothes my art my food
my tongue my skin color,
even my soap operasand it must be that no one has ever taught you
how to use a library card
because you don’t know how clueless you look
expecting your earnesty
to be compensation for my timeby now i am an over-qualified over-educated expert in the field of your don’t knows
where’s my degree? my big house? my fancy research job?
i’ve earned itlet me guess
you don’t know..
cripchick
Cripchick is a queer disabled corean-american living and loving in North Carolina. Cripchick is a 22 year old youth organizer who has been working in the youth arm of the Disability Rights Movement since high school. She is most interested in using poetry, community organizing and media as a way to cut through isolation that marginalized people often face. Cripchick is a radical woman of color feminist and believes in the power of people coming together.
you can say hi by clicking on the post titled and leaving a comment, emailing her at consciouslycrip[at]gmail
[dot]com, or on twitter.
A Few Projects Cripchick Is Involved With
Cripchick is facilitating a satellite campus in her local community for School of Our Lorde. School of Our Lorde is an effort to bring people together to study the poetics, pedagogy, politics and publishing of feminist warrior poet Audre Lorde. You can join an existing campus, participate by distance learning or start your own campus! To find out more, visit: http://summerofourlorde.wordpress.com/
Disability Justice Track at the Allied Media Conference
The Allied Media Conference is an annual gathering where artists, media makers and activists come together to talk media strategies for community building. Cripchick is working with other disabled people to create the first ever Disability Justice track--- a space where we people will dissect a disability justice analysis and have time to talk about the way disability shapes our work as cultural activists, media makers and activists. You can find out more at http://alliedmediaconference.org
Disabled Young People's Collective's first ever Activism, Community, Empowerment Summit
Cripchick is an active member with the Disabled Young People's Collective, a crew of disabled youth working to get free in NC. DYP is organizing a 6 day event in August for disabled youth between the ages 16-24 to come together and learn about disability justice, organizing, and community building. To get an application or find out more, visit http://thedypcollective.org
