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 writing from california
dear mia,
it is noon here in berkeley and i am sitting in a neighborhood coffee shop. it was a startling thing to come into the coffee shop today — i put down my computer and scanned the room, feeling like something was very noticeably different. it took me a second to realize that out of the eight people sitting directly in front of me, not one person looked up at me as i sat down. i stared into them daring them to stare back, but no one was shocked by my curious body. i don’t think these fellow mac-using coffee shop goers are any better than other people, but it is amazing to feel what decades of crip visibility can do to shift culture. i am not sure what i am going to do with this new state of public interaction (i want to play with this and do all kinds of very obnoxious things — like make funny faces and see if anyone notices —) but for now i am taking deep pleasure in this moment.
things here are great, mostly because i have a multi-person support system really looking out for me. i feel safe. hads (travel PA and friend) and I have been navigating access stuff together and my older crip friend has really created an environment in her home where it’s ok to ask for help while i learn how to live on my own. i am learning so much every day, taking mental notes of things i didn’t know i needed. community folks have been coming in to do access work with hads and i and it’s really exciting .. i can’t wait to see what unfolds as we talk about what it means to do access work for each other and put that into practice. also - i am eating delicious, delicious food.
short letter for now — i need to run! (how cool is it to say that after not leaving my house for 3 mo?) but i will write more soon.
love love love you (and the bay!!!)
stacey
