Raveena Aurora is the whimsical goddess of love and the fairy godmother of queer brown girls. Her new album Asha’s Awakening, released on February 11th, 2022, proves just that.
And I love that you love drawing stars on your wrists and smiley faces on your hands.
That you love when the light hits the side of a building, preferably when it’s a skyscraper.
I remain hopeful. Hopeful for a future where pointé shoes come in rich shades of espresso, mahogany, cognac and everything in between. A future where black and brown dancers are celebrated, not tolerated.
I don’t believe in alternate realities or universes. I don’t believe in fixing broken relationships. And I don’t believe in getting back together. But what if we were given a third chance?
I can’t help but feel as though I take everything for granted. Even love. Don’t we all to some extent?
It took me years to arrive at this feeling of acceptance and patience, especially as a queer, non-binary Asian person in an overarching community that operates through the lens of whiteness.
Decolonizing love in ourselves is a practice that inevitably heralds rebellion. To become ungovernable by the promise of codependence may be the single most terrifying and powerful first act we can commit against the forces killing us and our planet.
You never think about how you navigate love until it becomes clear to you and everyone around you that you have no idea what you’re doing.
From a former high achiever time chaser, this collection puts the development of my journey into words. Instead of solely preparing to live, it is high time that we learn to live.
"New Soul" embraces the pain of loss and transformation while searching for connections that transcend the mundane material world, whether through god's sensorium in the universe’s expanse, the quiet, lingering echoes of past souls, or silent tears of contemplations.
These poems reflect the past five years of emotions and struggles, finding my way back to myself to reconnect with and reclaim my identity. They are inspired by an affirmation acknowledged from my Urdu language study experience: Apni Zindagi ki Trailblazer - trailblazer of your own life.
K. Mehta is a high school poet whose work centers on the complexities of her Indian and Iranian heritage, and her experience coming from an immigrant family. These poems speak to the struggle that members of diasporic communities often face when trying to reconnect with their cultural identity and heritage.
Kristine Gerolaga is a Filipina American actor and filmmaker from Vallejo, CA currently based in Los Angeles.