Black Trans Activist COVID Housing Fund

Earth blessings, spirit greetings! My name is Adwoa Addae . I'm a Jamaican-born multidisciplinary performance artist, activist/community organizer, writer, and free-being who's recently been diagnosed with COVID-19. Over the last year, I've faced several crises stemming from mental illness that significantly reduced my capacity to fulfill my professional/personal responsibilities to the many organizations/individuals/communities I work and organize on behalf of. I lost my housing in December of 2019 and was forced to move in with my parents who do not know of my gender transition, was terminated from my organizational duties, and now work a minimum wage job for a corporation that does not have my health and well-being at heart. As a person from a poor/low-income family, I do not have health insurance and have a growing amount of debt from student loans and other forms of credit I've been forced to depend on. The COVID diagnosis is a breaking point, as I have lost significant income and will not be able to support myself moving forward. I am seeking to raise $12,000 to move into a trans-inclusive community apartment in Miami by the end of August. The funds will cover my housing for the next few months. empower me to heal, and give me foundation to focus on my creative and artistic practices. 

I will share a bit about my background and how the money will be used: 

As a Black Trans Immigrant being,my work  explores the pathways through which Afro-Diasporic peoples become channels for the Earth and Spirit realms to defy constructs of gender and heal from environmental/climate collapse. I aim to craft connections between the mysterious nature of a climate apocalyptic world and the ways in which Black Trans/Non-Binary people create identity and futures within the unknown, essentially embracing death of the “old culture of being” while simultaneously crafting endless imagination of what we have the ability to become. I seek to wield my body to create imagery and poetry that probes Black Trans people into emotionality that questions how our ruptured relationship to the Earth in the West is a barrier to our collective healing and ancestral communication. To date,I have published short stories, poems, podcasts, and personal essays/articles in numerous magazines, news-outlets, and social media. Publications and features include Wakanda Dream Lab: Black Freedom Beyond Borders Anthology, Teen Vogue, the New York Times, Grist.org, and Ottar Magazine (of Sweden). I have also performed at conferences, universities, and art festivals around the world including the United Nations Climate Negotiations. Mystic Soul, and a poetry festival organized by Miami collective Voices: Poetry for the People.

How the funds will be used:
Between student loan/credit debt, *increasing* Miami rent, food, and other basic necessities, my monthly expenses come close to $2000. I am seeking to move after I've fully recovered from COVID as it is no longer healthy for me to live with family and the economic situation means it will be increasingly difficult to find a gender affirming workplace. As a result, the $12,000 will cover me for the next 6 months until I am able to stabilize and regain control of my finances. Moreover, the current political climate in the US and globally indicates attacks against people like me will make it harder for me to survive and feel safe. Your support would guarantee my safety and temporary refuge to heal. You can also donate through Cashapp @  $adwoa1addae OR Venmo @ adwoa-addae OR [email redacted]/palexbr20

Gift economy:
I strongly believe in the power of community to take deep care of each other and share whatever resources we have access to, as gift and offering. If you are a QTPOC OR you are one of the first to donate over $50, I will make you a personalized necklace and/or earring (made from nature materials collected on hikes) and include poetry/spirit messages from authors/writers who've been a core part of my own healing. You can reach out to me directly on [email redacted]ae to claim your necklace once you've donated. I look forward to hearing from you and feel such gratitude for the support and love to come <3! 

We will survive, we will thrive, we will write our histories, we will document all that we've come to feel. We will be free, that we already are! Smell the soil. rest your head on the Earth, listen to what is being said. Feel love.


Love, 
Adwoa Addae