QWOC Media Wire primarily amplifies queer women and trans people of color -led projects. Please feel free to use this submission category to send us your press releases and other relevant news and stories featuring prominent qpoc voices and narratives.
Please Note: There are many sites that publish "LGBT" news. We recognize that "LGBT" news and stories are related to queer people of color, but that's not what our space is for. Again, if your story or info doesn't overtly, intentionally feature and/or pertain to queer women and/or trans people of color, we're not interested in publishing it.
That said-- thanks for letting us know about news relevant to QWOC. We'll be in touch if we decide to use your story or need further information from you.
QWOC Media Wire primarily amplifies queer women and trans people of color -led projects and organizations. Beginning April 2013, we'll be profiling DJs from our community.
Why DJs?
Activism is hard. Bring all of ourselves to the table can be taxing. And being able to express our full selves, unbridled and uncensored, is both a rarity and a privilege that we believe good DJs make possible. If you've ever worked out stress on a dancefloor, held your breath during the week just to make it to your favorite party on Friday night, or made a request you didn't think would be granted but took you by surprise right when it came on ("this one is for you") then we hope you'll agree with us that the role of DJs in our QPOC community isn't valued and celebrated often enough.
We'd like to change that. But we need your help.
Please feel free to use this submission category to send us information about your favorite DJ OR (if you're a DJ) submit a full self-nomination by answering our standard Q&A!
The only requirements for nomination are that 1) the DJ identifies openly as a queer woman, trans or gender non-conforming person of color and 2) they have been spinning/DJs for at least the past two years. (We're open to exceptions to these rules -- we're mainly attempting to ensure that submitted profiles are of DJs who are active and self-identity as part of the QPOC community.)
(Note: If you'd like to submit content ideas, press releases and other relevant news, please use tihs category instead. We do not publish promotional materials about club nights or parties, unless in the rare circumstance they're accompanied with important social commentary.)
QWOC Media Wire primarily amplifies queer women and trans people of color -led projects and organizations. Beginning February 2013, we'll be profiling at least one QPOC organization that aligns with our mission of amplifying LBTQI women of color thought leadership.
Please feel free to use this submission category to send us information about your organization by answering a few short questions. (Note: If you'd like to submit content ideas, press releases and other relevant news and stories from your organization, please use tihs category instead.)
Please Note: There are many sites that profile "LGBT" organizations. We recognize that "LGBT" organizations and campaigns by way of being an umbrella identity do pertain to queer people of color, but that's not what our space is for. Here, we are committed to *only* profiling LGBT organizations that use media to prioritize the experiences and voices of queer women of color. Again, if your organization's mission doesn't intentionally declare QWOC as a focus, we're not interested in featuring your work in this capacity.
That said-- thanks for letting us know about your QWOC-led and -focused organization, project, or campaign. We'll be in touch if we decide to feature your profile on our site!
"In the Borderlands
you are the battleground
where enemies are kin to each other;
you are at home, a stranger,
the border disputes have been settled
the volley of shots have shattered the truce
you are wounded, lost in action
dead, fighting back;
To survive the Borderlands
you must live sin fronteras
be a crossroads."
-- Gloria Anzaldua
Do you often hear some variation of the question, "so what are you anyway?" more than you thought humanly possible? Are you constantly trying to carve out a place for yourself and your identities in spaces that only acknowledge only certain fragments of who you are?
Do you have more than one identity that is hard to fit into a check box? For instance, Are you multiracial, pansexual queer? A bisexual South Asian stud? A transgender Latina? An intersex Muslim parent? A genderqueer republican? A Two-Spirit marriage equality activist?
Submit Your Story "Queer Women and Trans People of Color Sin Fronteras (Without Borders)"
We're looking for submissions from queer women, trans people, and gender non-conforming people of color who inhabit multiple "in between spaces." We're offering you a space to talk about how you navigate "life in the gray," and how the experiences of these multiple identities converge or share territory? (For inspiration, see this web comic about an inter-gender and inter-racial couple.)
This call for submissions will culminate in a special editorial series to be released in June 2013. We are open to *all kinds of submissions (including original visual art, poetry, music, and mixed media)*, but we're particularly interested in personal narratives/essays, creative non-fiction, social commentary submissions in the following categories:
- Romantic Relationships
- (Bio and Chosen) Family experiences
- Single-Issue Identity Politics and Community Organizing
- Creating Community with Other "In-Betweeners"
- Diaspora Borderlands; Geograpny and Migration (queer folk who grapple with "life in the gray" across cultures and continents)
- "In Betweener" Odes, Homage, and Manifestos: Ideal for rants, "truth" prose, interviews with notable leaders that inspire or historical icons.
If you're toying with an idea but not sure which category it would fit, don't hesitate to reach out to us -- we'll work with you to develop your idea. We want to hear from you, even if you don't consider yourself a writer, artist or media maker; you don't need to be any of those things in order to have things to say. So rip a page out of your journal, paint a self-portrait that depicts your identity on a hazy day, use this post as an excuse to reach out to your favorite QPOC for an interview, then let us help you share it with the world.
Deadline for Submissions is April 30th, 2013.
Eligible Works: Writing, photography or other visual art, web series, video blogs, original music and any other MEDIA that aligns with the them are accepted. Original works only.
500-700 words for opinion pieces/social commentary, 700-1400 for personal essays. At least 3 shots for photography and poetry submissions no longer than 2 pages (in Word, with 1 inch margins). If you have a piece that doesn’t exactly fit (fitting is overrated), send it to us anyway! We're flexible.
ALL submissions must be sent to us using the online submissions system below: