Mirror Memoirs

"They say the people could fly. Say that long ago in Africa, some of the people knew magic. And they would walk up on the air like climbin’ up on a gate.” - The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton In honor of Trans Day of Remembrance, Resilience, and Resistance, we are proud to announce our newest program, Black FLIGHT. Black F.L.I.G.H.T. (Forging Liberation, Imagining Generative Healing and Transformation) is a 9-month healing and political education virtual cohort for and by Black queer and trans abolitionists who are survivors of childhood rape and sexual assault. Our goal is to build a community of practice that will radiate healing forward and backward in time and contribute to the healing justice work of addressing how the trauma of CSA shows up in our communities. Applications are now open! We are accepting 12 participants. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gHv-3qmJ

We decided to postpone our family planning and parenting workshop for QTIBIPOC survivors to Sunday, December 1 (11am-1pm PST / 2-4pm EST) in order to adjust the content to reflect the post-election political landscape. All BIPOC LGBTQI child sexual abuse survivors who are (or are thinking of becoming) parents, whether through birthing, adopting, or as an active non-custodial parental figure, are invited to attend this workshop. This Zoom workshop will be led by Ebony Williams, founder of our newest partner organization Cactus In Bloom. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/ginfqjcy We strongly encourage all who register to complete the pre-workshop survey (linked in the RSVP page), to ensure this workshop responds to your questions and concerns. Workshop Description: REAL TALK...How do we raise children to be free in a world that limits their access to true freedom? How does one even think about having a child now? And if we want to, how do we do it well? In this space we will acknowledge and explore fears/wonderings, understand your needs in this moment, and find ways to make decisions that feel most aligned with your right to freedom and family.

We are a community of belonging for ANYONE who wants to end rape culture without leaving any survivors behind AND without enacting harmful state systems. In the wake of the election, many folks have been left wondering, “what do we do now?” Our answer: we continue to build networks where we can practice new ways of being in relationship and in communities of care and resistance. We don’t have THE answer, because there isn’t one answer - but we know for certain the work of unlearning rape culture (which is inherently tied to the systems and cultures of white supremacist imperialist capitalist ableist ageist cisheteropatriarchal domination and destruction that were affirmed by a majority of voters last week) includes the work of learning our histories of movements for collective liberation and reading the many, many powerful books and essays that have been written about abolition and new ways forward. ALL of our Core Members and Accomplice Members are welcome at our Abolition Book Club. We hope this space can be an entry point for our accomplices to become active in our local membership hubs and our online support network - because certainly a practice of care and mutual aid from our more privileged community members toward our more vulnerable community members will continue to be a necessary strategy for collective survival in the years to come. Join us on Zoom December 8 to discuss “Practicing New Worlds” by Andrea Ritchie and on March 9 to discuss “Unbuild Walls” by Silky Shah. Both authors will join us live for a book talk and group discussion/Q&A. AK Press (publisher of “Practicing New Worlds”) and Haymarket Books (publisher of “Unbuild Walls”) have made each book free electronically for the next two weeks. Download your copy today and RSVP for our Abolition Book Club via this link: https://lnkd.in/gJ6tDEMG (If you are a QTIBIPOC CSA survivor who RSVP’d before Nov 8 for a print copy of Practicing New Worlds, we are fulfilling those orders this week. If you RSVP for a print copy of Unbuild Walls before January 20, we will get those out to you in late January.)

Join us for the first Cactus In Bloom + Mirror Memoirs collaborative event where we hold space for what it means to Family Plan at the intersections of being BIPOC, QUEER, and a CSA survivor. Sign up on the Mirror Memoirs site to gain access

Our Co-Director Amita will be a keynote speaker at California State University, Fullerton today, speaking on the importance of an intersectional approach to ending rape culture and to supporting survivors on their healing journeys. Thanks to the CSUF Title IX and Gender Equity office for inviting Amita to share their story and the work of Mirror Memoirs with CSUF students, faculty, staff, and community members!

Our Co-Director Jaden Fields is a Movement Advisor to Funders for Justice, and joined their Director on a panel at the Grantmakers in the Arts conference in Chicago yesterday. Thanks to all who attended “The Role of Philanthropy in Supporting the Safety and Security of Movement Organizations.”

Thanks to everyone who made our Storyteller Summit such a huge success! To the 27 storytellers in our audio archive, theater project and board (including 3 of our 6 founding board members!) who made the time to convene in Los Angeles two weekends ago. To every foundation and individual donor whose support made it possible for us to fully fund all 22 survivors who needed travel assistance to attend, to provide five nutritious meals to everyone participating in the convening, and to provide all of the workshop and training content our storytellers requested last summer. We had an amazing team working on stage and behind the scenes: ???????? Leaonna Duran leading a somatic accountability workshop (with guidance from Daria of Accountability Mapping) ???Patricio Manuel and edxi betts leading a self-defense workshop ??Our full-time staff members (Jaden, Bilen, and Amita facilitating dialogues on: understanding child sexual abuse as a form of systemic violence; exploring the praxis of disability justice, abolition, collective care, and collective accountability; and using peer support pods and crisis care plans to help each other over the coming audio archive release (end of 2024 through end of 2025). And: ?? Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center staff who generously provided the convening space ???? Alyssa Marie P. providing childcare for our youngest attendee (age one!) ?? Neon Wolf Events running the Photo Booth and documenting our weekend ???????? Bites & Bashes for delicious catering (and working around everyone’s food allergies!) ????♀? Reina Prado providing holistic energy sessions for folks before they traveled home ?? Mask Bloc Long Beach for a COVID care guide ?? Opulence Abundance for a crisis care plan template ?? Tall Poppy providing digital security services for our public-facing members ??? Thanks to our LA community members who joined us Saturday night for a screening of “Transmutation: A Ceremony.” ?? ?? ??? And thanks to everyone who leaned into joy and play through karaoke, raffles, games, and photo booth props (we are all still hearing Jovan Wolf encouraging our silliness by repeating “Act like you’re having the time of your life! Time of your life!” ??). On October 26, we’ll offer a virtual version of the Summit to the storytellers who weren’t able to gather in person. Our audio archive release will begin after the November election and run through 2025.

Please join us in welcoming our Fall 2024 Intern to the team! Kessley Janvier (she/her) is both a senior at Georgetown University (majoring in history) and an aspiring lawyer. As a student organizer, Kessley has led efforts to promote reparations, climate justice, police accountability, and racial justice on her campus and nationally. Her work has centered on amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and gained experience in strategic communications at Bryson Gillette and the Emerson Collective. She has lived in Florida, London, England and New York. In her free time, Kessley enjoys yoga, visiting independent bookstores and libraries, and trying new coffee shops. Kessley will be working closely with our Operations Director on our board and staff handbook, and with our Co-Directors on reorganizing our CRM and executing our communications plan for our audio archive release. Reflecting on this opportunity, Kessley remarked: “Mirror Memoirs’ abolitionist and intersectional approach to storytelling deeply resonates with my commitment to using messaging to uplift the voices and needs of our society’s most marginalized. I believe that centering the experiences of LGBTQI+ survivors of color in the movement to end child sexual abuse is crucial to the most impactful change, and I look forward to supporting Mirror Memoirs’ important work.” Welcome, Kessley!

For our friends, supporters and members in northern New Jersey and the surrounding tri-state area, join us Sunday, October 6 (11:30am-2:00pm) at the home of Dr. Neelam Todi for an afternoon of snacks, sweets, songs and stories in support of survivors of sexual violence. The afternoon will feature live singing by Apoorva Mudgal, remarks by Dr. Rupal Oza, and visions for collective liberation from some of the South Asian American child sexual abuse survivors who shared their stories in the forthcoming Mirror Memoirs audio archive. An Indian buffet-style brunch (with your choice of wine or sparkling apple cider) will be provided. The venue is accessible by public transportation via NJ Transit train or bus. About the speakers and performers: Apoorva Mudgal is an Agra (North India) born and New York based Hindustani singer and composer. Her serene vocals steeped in longing, and often minimally arranged to stringed instruments like the classical guitar and Kora (African Harp), make for transcendental performances of the Urdu Ghazal, Hindavi folk and Punjabi Sufi Kalaam. Rupal Oza is a professor at Hunter College CUNY. Her work focuses on socio-political transformations in the global south, the geography of the right-wing politics, and the conjuncture between gender, violence and political economy. Her first book, The Making of Neoliberal India: Nationalism, Gender, and the Paradoxes of Globalization was published in 2006 by Routledge, New York and by Women Unlimited, India. She has several articles in peer reviewed journals on a range of issues: human rights in an age of terror and empire, rethinking area studies, special economic zones in India, and realigned geographies after 9/11. Her most recent articles appear in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society and Gender, Place and Culture and are based on three years of empirical research in rural Haryana. Her book-length monograph entitled Semiotics of Rape: Sexual Violation & Subjectivity in rural India was published in 2023 by Duke University Press. RSVP: tinyurl.com/azaadikiawaaz

A survey for OBGYNs, nurses, midwives, fertility specialists, and administrators of organizations in these fields, from our newest community partner, Cactus In Bloom.