EVENT: Raks Inferno 6/26 Fundraiser for Lighthouse Foundation

(Special thanks to Dawn Xiana Moon of Raks Geek for her efforts and her contribution to this post).

This past week, I posted my interview with Karlyn Meyer of Lighthouse Foundation focusing on their work with the black LGTBQ+ community in Chicago. Although I briefly mentioned an upcoming fundraiser, I wanted to provide more information.

This Friday, June 26th, at 8 pm, Raks Inferno (a production of Raks Geek) is holding an online fundraiser on Facebook. The Raks Inferno: BLM & Pride Solidarity event will be live-streamed via Facebook, and will feature belly dance, fire spinning, and other performance arts. Recently, I asked Dawn Xiana Moon (director of Raks Geek) about their event, and she graciously provided the following:

Raks Geek (and thus Raks Inferno, which is a Raks Geek project) has never been quiet about racial injustice, LGBTQ+ equality, or the fact that trans rights are human rights. It’s personal: Most of us are LGBTQ+, and most of us are POC (specifically, Asian American). Our very bodies are politicized, whether we want them to be or not.

One of our missions is to give back to our community; we regularly partner with local non-profits to raise awareness of the work they’re doing and help them raise funds. Karlyn from Lighthouse Foundation is a good friend of ours, and we’ve been wanting to partner with them; given that this month is Pride and we also wanted to tangibly support the Black Lives Matter movement, it seemed natural to center this show around an organization that advances justice for Black LGBTQ+ people.

Personally, I’m also really excited about our guest performers this month, whom I’ve been hoping to get into a show for a while: Firespinner BK Ellison is one of the organizers of the Chicago Full Moon Jams, and Alseny Sylla has performed with Cirque du Soleil and can jump higher and further than most human beings on the planet. We’re lucky to have them on board!

Please make a point of attending – and donating – this Friday evening.

And as always, thanks for reading!

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Meet Your Neighbor: Lighthouse Foundation

(Special thanks to Karlyn Meyer for her time and insights)

In its first year of existence, the Lighthouse Foundation has driven several successful initiatives ranging from assertive advocacy to developing a mutual aid fund to benefit the black LGTBQ+ community. Recently, I spoke with Board President Karlyn Meyer (my old colleague from the Chicago Nerd Social Club) about the Foundation’s origins, its philosophy, and this Friday’s Raks Inferno (a project of Raks Geek) online fundraiser on Facebook.

Can you provide some background on the Lighthouse Foundation?

Lighthouse Foundation (LF) grew out of a community need observed by members of a church. The organizers who have gone on to form the Foundation met through Lighthouse Church UCC, which is a predominately Black, predominately queer and LGBTQIA-affirming faith community led by LF’s Executive Director, Jamie Frazier. So one year ago, there were a number of racist incidents involving Boystown businesses, and they all came to light in relatively quick succession. This hit some major intersections for us as a church, so we did some organizing in response; but at the same time, we did a lot of listening. In the process, we learned two things. One was the sheer depth of macro- and microaggressions, threats to safety, and deep unwelcome experienced by Black queer Chicagoans in Boystown (and beyond). The other was how many people outside the church community supported our work and wanted to join us in this movement. So we launched a nonsectarian nonprofit to move our social-justice work forward.

What motivated you to get involved with the Lighthouse Foundation? What keeps you going?

I’d been a member of Lighthouse Church for almost as long as it’s been around; I love its unapologetic focus on justice and celebration of diversity. So the formation of the Lighthouse Foundation has been a clear and logical application of the values that brought us all together in the first place.

Can you provide some insight into the inner workings of the Foundation – how does it interface with the community? (Both the Lakeview/Boys Town neighborhood as well as specifically the Black LGTBQ+ community)

Lighthouse Foundation has a bifurcated structure. Part one is our caucuses: groups that represent a cross-section of identities within the Chicagoland Black LGBTQ+ community. For example, we have a trans caucus and a 50+ caucus, each led and facilitated by a member of that group. The caucuses raise issues to our leadership–they let us know what they need and what they’re interested in, and provide programming as well. The second part is our direct-action organizing arm, CARE: the Coalition of Allies for Racial Equity. CARE is open to both individuals and organizations–anyone committed to the pursuit of justice for Black LGBTQ+ people. The caucuses are more behind the scenes, with CARE doing the public work.

Our leadership consists of a nine-member strategy team that is primarily Black and queer and includes white “accomplices” (a more active term used in favor of “allies”). Our team includes organizers, clergy, and professionals of many kinds, all sharing a passion for Black queer justice, with Jamie as our Executive Director.

The Foundation has taken a very active stance in advocating for the Black LGTBQ community in Chicago, from security issues at Center on Halsted to creating a Black Queer Mutual Aid Fund in the wake of COVID-19. What are the key issues that Black LGTBQ individuals in Chicago, and what are the challenges in organizing around those issues?

With Black Chicagoans disproportionately affected by COVID-19, disproportionately serving as frontline workers, and many out of work and facing housing insecurity, an immediate need in the pandemic was for financial assistance. With our roots in the Black queer community and our familiarity with the high barrier and inaccessibility of many aid programs, we decided to create the Black Queer Mutual Aid Fund of Chicagoland. Our initial plan was to distribute $100 microgrants, but support of the fund has allowed us to increase this amount. This is completely digital, which is especially helpful because a major challenge in organizing during the pandemic is our inability to gather. We’re thankful that we’ve been able to launch this and other initiatives since going virtual, and that we’ve been able to extend our reach and participation in CARE.

Recently, the Foundation released a guide for white individuals and institutions to assertively help the Foundation. What can we do on a day-to-day basis that moves beyond simply posting hashtags and graphics? How can we make an impact on a smaller scale?

One of the items in that email is a live webinar we just hosted, called Antiracism for White Folks. You’ll find the recording on our Facebook page, and I encourage anyone who is asking this question to watch it. This webinar was run by white members of our strategy team–and I think that’s significant, for two reasons. One is that it’s important for white folks to talk to each other when it comes to the work of antiracism; that education is labor that’s often requested of people of color. But on the flip side, it’s incredibly important to defer to people of color and follow their lead when it comes to working with them for their liberation. I love that Lighthouse Foundation addresses both of these things: It provides spaces where non-Black/non-queer folks can receive that education, clarity, and instruction; and it does so under the direction and agency of Black queer people.

Another very concrete thing people can do is financially support our organization, so we can continue providing trainings like it, mutual aid, programming, and organizing wins. You can donate through the website of our fiscal sponsor, PHIMC, at https://www.phimc.org/donate.

Raks Geek is holding a June 26^th online fundraiser to benefit the Lighthouse Foundation. Can you describe some of your other partnerships/collaborations with community organizations?

We’re excited about Raks Geek and grateful that they are providing entertainment that can be experienced at home during the pandemic. Our other partnerships and collaborations have been rich and varied. For example, we’ve worked with public health organizations like Howard Brown for our campaigns; and we’re partnering with the Census for part of our upcoming Black Queer Pride (online) celebration over the 4th of July weekend. But another thing our partnerships look like is our organizational members within CARE. One thing I appreciate about LF is that it’s both nonsectarian and, due to its origins, works with a number of faith communities. Churches have a great deal of power that we’ve all seen used to actively harm LGBTQIA people and maintain racist structures. As progressive churches seek to redress these harms, Lighthouse Foundation serves as a partner to help them take aim at those structures where they continue to be erected; and it provides tools for individuals and nonprofits to deepen their commitment to dismantling them as well.

Finally, do you have anything to tell us that we didn’t think to ask?

We had to adjust our 2020 strategy pretty profoundly in light of the pandemic, and we’re now going strong on digital organizing, programming, and education. If you’d like to be involved with Lighthouse Foundation, your involvement can happen from your laptop, wherever you are. You can join as an individual, on behalf of your faith community, or as the representative of a nonprofit. And if that’s not for you, but you’ve still read this far, we appreciate your time and welcome your support through phimc.org/donate.

Thanks for the chat, Gordon!

We would like to thank Karlyn Meyer for her time and insight, and invite you to leave your comments below or join us via Facebook page. And as always, thanks for reading!

Five Lessons I Learned Finding Remote Work

Recently, I experience a major change in my COVID-19/caregiving lifestyle: I was hired for remote work. Job seeking during the pandemic has been challenging, but the transition back into remote working has been much easier than I would expect. My experience freelancing and caregiving helped me develop my skills, but my transition into remote work helped me learn five key lessons:

1. LinkedIn is A Very Powerful Professional Development Tool – Although many people use LinkedIn as a professional networking tool, it has also been a great tool for professional development. By researching companies and organizations, pursuing leads (which led me to my current situation), and catching up on professional news helped me stay current. In talking with other writers on Facebook (I am also a New Pulp author, many of my colleagues wondered why they were still on LinkedIn. I believe that any social media channel works as long as you regularly engage. LinkedIn has always been a powerful tool for me, even now while I’m homebound. Speaking of networking…
2. Networking And Professional Development Still Matters – Much of my time spent in lockdown was not only spend caring for my mother but also networking via a variety of channels. Thanks to Eventbrite’s search, I found many networking events and training via Zoom. Engaging with my peers via Twitter and Facebook helped me stay connected. Taking advantage of free classes and training from organizations like Free Code Camp and General Assembly, provided new skill sets to bring to the table.
3. Doing Small-Scale Work to Keep Your Skills Sharp Is Not a Bad Thing: During the lockdown, even though this blog was minimal except for the occasional story (like this recent post about ChicagoMutualAid.net), I managed to find some small-scale, low-paying digital research/remote work positions. Sites like Remotive.io and We Work Remotely were invaluable in providing some great leads. (It also helped that I had worked as a contractor with Cultivate Now, who consults around remote work issues. However, some remote work situations aren’t that positive, and my next lesson was…
4. Know When To Leave A Situation That Doesn’t Work For You – Perfect example: I had been hired by a company that was looking for “academic writers”. Given my background, I thought it meant either proofing academic papers or research journal articles. Their payment scheme was unusual (you had to wait a period after completing a piece), but I thought it would be fine. It turned out…I was doing other people’s homework. People would submit money to this site and have people write their papers, do other homework assignments, etc. After working for a few weeks and having my pay withheld because my work didn’t mean their standards (although it meant the clients), I realized there was no way to win…but I had some payback with both a strongly worded Glassdoor review and better-paying work from reputable companies from that point forward. And finally…
5. Taking Small Steps Lead to Big Rewards – During my time of inactivity, I made the effort to engage in small, positive changes getting new business cards, renewing domains, turning over some small scale volunteer efforts. Although I don’t think there is a one-to-one-correlation, taking care of smaller, less important tasks allowed me to prepare mentally for remote work. Feeling ready in the short term helped me feel more confident. That confidence helped me through several job interviews which led to my current work situation

Finding any work in current times is challenging; finding and starting new work is an exceptional accomplishment. I refuse to take my new situation for granted, but with more employers relying on remote work and remote workers, I think I managed to hit the curve at the right time.

Thanks for reading! Please leave any comments below or join us on Facebook.

Meet Your Neighbor: ChicagoMutualAid.net

After several months of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Chicagoans are still facing great financial stresses. Services ranging from the Chicago Public Schools’ meal program to the CTA have been shut down or closed, and many coronavirus relief funds and mutual aid resources are either empty or require updates. With many Chicago residents requiring further services, two tech professionals – a user experience designer and a software developer – built a new online resource…and it all started with a conversation over Slack.

Dawn Xiana Moon (who works as a UX designer and front-end developer) and Leah Neustadt (a software programmer) created ChicagoMutualAid.net, a peer-to-peer site where people can donate funds for other Chicago residents who require assistance. (Chicago residents who are in dire financial need can apply for up to $200 and receive the funds through PayPal, Venmo, CashApp and other services).  The site connects donors and recipients randomly and directly, so the organizers do not touch donated funds in any way. Since its launch on June 6th, ChicagoMutualAid.net has already raised almost $1000 for Chicagoans who need emergency financial assistance.

With Dawn building the website and writing copy and Leah handling backend functions, the eventual goal for the site is developing it into an application with a more robust software framework. However, ChicagoMutualAid.net arrives at a very critical time as the city begins reopening. With high unemployment numbers and dwindling and reduced resources, many Chicago residents need help now more than ever. This is an excellent opportunity for Chicago residents to jumpstart recovery as Chicago enters Phase Three of its Coronavirus Reopening Program.

Ways that you can support ChicagoMutualAid.net include both making a direct donation to http://www.chicagomutualaid.net (donations and distributions are run on the honor system) as well as spreading the word via social media (you can even share this post via the sharing links on top). If you have questions, you can contact ChicagoMutualAid.net via email.

As Chicago comes out of both the pandemic and recent protests, many Chicago residents need further help. If charity begins at home, here is a very necessary – and needed – first step for Chicago-area city and suburban residents to kickstart economic and social recovery for those Chicago residents who are feeling especially stressed in the aftermath.

Please leave your comments below or join the conversation on our Facebook page.

And as always, thanks for reading!