Neo Sol Librarian

So the other day, I was walking my dog just like every other day. Here's Buddy. He's a cutie right? (Mine is in the front view. That other thing in the back, I don't recognize. KIDDING! It's my sister's dog, Max) Ok, walking the dog, going about my business. Got my headphones in, listening to Yvie Oddly's Giggin . You know, getting my morning blood flowing with my dog, right? Out the corner of my eye, I see something moving, quickly. As I turn my head, this very happy ecstatic Pit Bull, obviously off the leash, comes bounding towards us. My first instinct was to pick up my dog, so I did. My second thought is that this dog is going to get hit being out in morning traffic in Charlotte. So as I'm thinking this, I have my dog under my arm. And Buddy under normal circumstances is still a considerable heft and weight. But there is a dog in the picture. And of course at this point, I'm now yelling out "GO HOME! GO HOME!"  to the loose pit, atte...

I've been figuring out what is my own way of resisting. I honestly wanted to be at a rally. My Mom kept my sister and I at marching rallies as kids. Most of them were for making Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday (yeah. Let that soak in like slow rain. I'm 31). Never anything to the magnitude of what we are seeing today. But there is a sense of community that is not felt throughout the everyday life of Black people that you feel at a rally. Everyone, hundreds of people, are there for the same reason. It's a feeling that I think white people feel all the time, but take for granted. People of color always walk in the room expecting to be othered. But at a rally, everyone who is not there for the purpose of said rally, they are othered. And not only are they othered, you have reasoning and support in the outsiders othering. Because you have a slew of people crying out saying Yes, I see your experience and I too have the same experience, and it won't be ignored.  ...

Been needing this GIF for so many reasons lately. And it's hilarious. via GIPHY

I'm tired of feeling like I can't do anything. I'm not going to wallow. I refuse to worry. And I will continue to resist so that I may live. And I'm going to live so loud today that I'm going to hype my own damn self up: I am a Black transman of Southern background. My parents know that I am trans. They don't understand, but they know and we still talk and have good times together.  My Grandma is 89 years old and thinks that I am smart and uses the correct pronouns when addressing me. My sister hung up on me when I told her that I told her that I was transitioning 9 years ago. She said that I would always be her sister and hung up. She called back 5 minutes later in tears saying that she was sorry. It's been Big Bro ever since. I stand on the shoulders of bootleggers, bail bonds professionals, teachers, ministers, dope dealers, alcoholics and the wayward. And that is just my immediate family.  Because I am a Black transman, my extended family is great as wel...