Bad-Ass Folk!


This month's Bad Asses are....MY AMAZING BOSSES for making the NYU LGBTQ Student Center a totally amazing place to work! I know you may be asking yourself why is this person trying to suck up to her bosses? Well that is a silly question because they probably won't read this, so there.

But in all seriousness, New York University was recently named the most LGBTQ-Friendly Institution in the US! The Princeton Review released it's annual ranking and once again NYU placed first, followed by Standford. Honestly, I'm not sure what criteria was used earn NYU this ranking, but I know that my supervisors have definitely contributed greatly to campus climate. I love this work! Check out all the schools on HuffPo!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last month's Bad Ass was "multiracial Indigenous hip-hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter!" Jessica Yee!

Jessica impacted me SO much at this year's CLPP conference. My comfort and knowledge were challenged, in a very good way, for the first time in a long time. Yee is the founder and current director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, and has recently released Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism. I just ordered my copy, I hope you will too if you are able. If not, there are some great excepts available online!  Everything Jessica presented at the conference was on point. Yee even put to words what I've never been able to. I often feel as though when folks, specifically in the  classroom or activist settings, say that they're "my ally in my struggles," it's total bullshit. It usually comes from a place of sympathy after reading about "people like me" in one of their sociology classes (I say "people like me" to represent a lot of different oppressed identities I carry: poor, inner-city, person of color, queer, genderqueer...etc.) When was the last time folks ventured into my neighborhood or even spoke to someone "like me" outside of the classroom or conference? I don't want you as an ally if you're afraid of where I come from. Yee brought up this idea of "consensual allyship" that really blew me away.  Will definitely change the way I interact with well intentioned, misinformed folks. I personally wanted to say thank you, but I never got the chance to at CLPP. Read more about Jessica here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This may be cheating because this person is a personal friend and colleague, but last month's Bad-Ass was
Chris Mosier!
Click this link to learn more about his amazing Iron Man journey, but know that Chris is an amazing student, athlete, and queer advocate (among many other things), and he needs your help!  Watch the following video as many times as you can tolerate and help Chris get sponsored!




"I'm Chris Mosier, and I want to be sponsored by TRX. My goal is to qualify for Race Across America, a cross country cycling race. I'm a cyclist, runner, and Ironman triathlete, and a lot of other things. 
TRX is the single most effective cross training and strength training tool I've found to help meget maximum results in minimal time. And it's portable and can be used anywhere - like Times Square. Perfect, for a busy New Yorker like me. 

Please keep watching this video and help me get sponsored by TRX!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February's Bad-Ass was Brandon Lacy Campos!


I first saw him perform at NYU in December, and he was inspiring. I then got to have dinner with him at Creating Change, and in what can only be as a total blogger-geek moment, I uttered "OMG, I totally read your work!" I'm a mess, I know. Anywho...you should read his work too! He also is releasing a new book soon so be sure to check it out, and by check it out I mean buy it! He also is very active with National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC). "NYAC is a social justice organization that advocates for and with young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ)
in an effort to end discrimination against these youth and
to ensure their physical and emotional well-being." If you are able, you should totally donate! Every little bit helps, and you can now donate online!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January's Bad-Ass was Mia Mingus!


Every time I've seen Mia speak, she starts off by putting all of her identities on the table.
Mia is a "queer disabled woman of color korean american transracial and transnational adoptee working, creating and loving towards wholeness and connection, love and liberation." Bad-ass, I know! She's all about being able to be her whole-self in all spaces! She is an amazing speaker and incredibly kind, so if you ever have the opportunity to see her speak, DO SO! I had the chance to meet her for Asian-Pacific Islander Month at Ramapo College as well as the Reproductive Rights and Social Justice Conference at Hampshire College. Check out some her latest writings here and here!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December's Bad-Ass(es) were the folks in the documentary UPeople

"What happens when 30 women of color--straight, gay and trans--get together in a classic Brooklyn Brownstone? A house party, of course. U People documents the humor, tensions, and tenderness shared among this eclectic group of often misunderstood individuals who one day joined forces on a less than typical music video shoot. The documentary dares to echo the oft despised question “who are you people?” to which the unabashed heroines and heroes candidly shout back. "


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November's Bad-Ass was Alice Walker.