Asha's Survival Fund!

Hey there! I'm asha (they/them), a 29 year old singer/songwriter in Chicago. Before COVID, I was working at a job I really loved and I thought was treating me well. We all know that many work spaces became tense/oppressive during the George Floyd uprisings, and a few things happened during that time for me.

((LONG STORY SHORT: This company has gotten increasingly microaggressive and intolerable for me, a chronically depressed neurodivergent black trans person. I've had to leave to take care of myself and would love your support! Read on for the long version...))

1. I was asked to draft and post a statement (for no extra pay) during my off time.

2. I was asked to do social media posts for my company for a few weeks, for no extra pay. The language of the posts and statements were picked apart, and I thus engaged in long, tense email debates about race and music with my white male boss during my off time.

3. After holding my boss accountable for an offensive, misogynistic post, I was gaslit and yelled at during work and in front of coworkers.

4. Since then, I've been misgendered several times by my boss and other management.

5. There have been several triggering items in our inventory, depicting racist/minstrel iconography. My concerns about these items has gone unmet.

6. I've been one of 2 black employees there for the past 2.5 years, including during the uprisings. We've had a several new hires in that time, none of them POC.

7. This has all commenced during the longest, most intense depressive episode of my adult life, and I've had to change my schedule, and now quit to take care of my mental health. I let things get really bad because I had to keep my job during the pandemic, and had no time to do self-care techniques/modalities to stay healthy.

I'll be seeking therapy and new employment that is supportive of my mental health needs. It's unclear how long that'll take, and will really need support while I transition and heal! Thank you for even reading this, and sharing/boosting. Anything beyond that is super appreciated, thank you for donating if you can!