Mia Mingus and Stacey Milbern are two queer disabled diasporic Korean women of color in the process moving from the South to the Bay to create home and community with each other.
This tumblr documents their journey. For more info about Mia, visit her blog at risk
Dear Stacey,
The world is shifting and changing and my heart is being ignited by so many things lately: my work with the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collaborative to build transformative justice responses to child sexual abuse that don’t rely on the state; the out pouring of people, love, passion and spirit in Oakland for the General Strike as the world watched; the potential and possibility of the Living Room Project (video below); and the amazing people in my life throwing me the most beautiful surprise-filled birthday weekend.
I have been thinking a lot about risk these days, as I watch people risk their jobs, their safety, their comfort. I have been thinking to myself, what are we willing to risk for the world we desire? What are we willing to risk for the values we say we are committed to? Because our dreams are going to take a lot more than smart analysis. Our dreams will require us to feel and to mess up and make mistakes and, most importantly, learn.
Risk means we are afraid, and actually, that we get used to being afraid. Risk means we make friends with fear and thank it for showing us where we need to head next. Fear is like a compass, pointing us towards the work we need to do, always leading us to another chance to be brave; always leading us to another chance to be the versions of ourselves we can be proud of. If your heart isn’t beating out of your chest, your voice shaking, palms sweating; if you aren’t sure you should turn back and give up, then you aren’t risking. Love and liberation require us to risk; they deserve us to.
Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I hope you are risking.
Love,
mia
