The Ladyc⭐️ck Poetry Series does not exist anywhere else in the country. No one else is organizing teach-ins predominately led by Black Trans Femme poets, artists, and creatives. Ladyc⭐️ck’s first successful event occurred on July 3rd with Destination Tomorrow, Hood School, Black Trans Mutual Aid Group, and the 2024-2025 National Youth Poet Laureate, Stephanie Pacheco! In September, we hosted our P2C*** Fundrager at Pine Box Rock Shop with P2C Collective, and held workshops on poetry, playwriting, songwriting, zine making, and soundscaping. Our upcoming Ladyc⭐️ck Poetry Slam with Black Trans Travel Fund, and performances by CENSORED dialogue and CMD+JAZMINE, is slated for Thursday, October 23rd at Rubulad. Because when was the last time a Doll screamed her poems to you?

The fundraising goal of $4,000 is in support of Ladyc⭐️ck’s future programming: ie, arts workshops, teach-ins, poetry slams, panels, and events centered around the knowledge of Black Trans Femme creatives. Your donation will help compensate the poets, artists, workshop facilitators, panelists, performers, photographers, food vendors, and volunteers involved in our Ladyc⭐️ck events. Portions will also go towards sponsoring free tickets as needed, providing honorariums for open mic participants, prizes for slam winners, and compensating my role as an organizer.

Ladyc⭐️ck is in response to a country that does not prioritize our lives. Incarcerated folk in Louisiana are still picking cotton because the United States is hellbent on exploiting Black bodies for free labor. Palestinians are being exterminated in Gaza because American dollars are funding the genocide. USAID was pulled from Sudan in the middle of widespread famine because our dictator is governed by greed. There's footage of South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace saying that “trannies should be in a straight jacket with a hard steel lock on it." Texas Representative, Ronny Jackson, thinks we are “cancers” who shouldn’t be allowed to “communicate with each other.” We all know what that means, right?

I know that there’s a lot we should be donating to right now, so any amount you are able to give will be appreciated. Transsexuals are not terrorists who want to corrupt your children. We are human, siblings, parents, lovers, artists, organizers, teachers, sex workers, and healers who want to rid the world of its chains. I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to co-create spaces where Black Trans Femmes are honored for our knowledge. But we can't do it alone. We are on the frontlines of every movement for the same reason why it’s hard for us to ask for help sometimes.

I have not problem watching allies empty their pockets for the Doll, if it means that people still care about my life. Complacency is terror's favorite pick-me, and we're already covered in this nation's blood.

Wake up and learn.

Love,

Gurlie.