masarukitkat

[masarukitkat]

THEY WERE JUST MEANT TO BE

[masarukitkat]

[Image Description: Black background with a sketch of a hand done in white line work. The hand looks as if it is covered in red and purple bruising and injury, perhaps blood is dripping from the index finger. In the colors of the Transgender Pride Flag, at the top left hand corner of the image, are the words “Do Not (in blue) Forget About (in pink) Us (in white)” and in the bottom right hand corner are the words “Please (in white) Remember (in pink) Us (in blue)” and in the bottom left hand corner “Transgender (in blue) Day Of Remembrance (in pink) November 20, 2023 (in white)”. My name spelled in the Hebrew Alephbet “Tof” is signed right under the wrist of the hand sketch.]

#transgender day of remembrance #procreate #digital art #digital aritst #digital arwork

[masarukitkat]

hey people? israeli citizens are being oppressed by their government. israeli citizens are terrified of their government. israeli citizens want down with their government. israeli citizens feel fear and sympathy for palestinians. israeli cotizens are not the issue. Politicians are the issue, just their every other crazy fucking country. You do not blame all french citizens for the ban of religion in public. You do not blame all americans for the ban on abortion. Many of you do not blame russian citizens for Putin's crimes.

You should not blame israeli citzens for their governments crimes.

[masarukitkat]

shoutout to everyone with forget disorders (adhd, DID/osdd, ptsd/c-ptsd, asd, dementia/alzeheimers, schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders, major depressive, chronically ill/phys disabled people with brain fog, people with long-Covid, natural memory degradation, and etc.)

[masarukitkat]

Israeli and Palestinian children alike are dead. They were murdered. I keep seeing people on each side saying the other side deserved it. I don’t understand how. Thousands of people, real people are dead. I’ve seen both celebrated. I’ve seen people say to gas all jews and a Palestinian child was murdered by his landlord

The pain and suffering and conflict isn’t identical but it’s devastating on both sides

Civilians are not responsible for the actions of their governments. I don’t know how or when this statement became controversial. Palestinians should not be punished for Hamas’s crimes and Israelis don’t deserve to die because their government is doing horrible things

all the people suffering right now shouldn’t be. All the people dead should not be dead.

I am begging people to stop justifying and glazing over the deaths and suffering of people. The people of Palestine and Israel alike deserve safety. They deserve shelter and food and water. What’s happening is so so horrifying.

[masarukitkat]

[masarukitkat]

I can't remember if I've posted about this before, but tonight I was reminded by a class of a thing that I think may be helpful for some folks.

Because converting is *so* permanent and irreversible, and one should take it at least as seriously as entering a marriage (with the understanding that there is no divorce, only alienation), I think it's honestly a good idea to wait until you've had a major fight with your Judaism before you complete your conversion.

It's the same principle as wanting to wait until you've been sick with the flu together or had a major life setback or are lost at 2 a.m. on a road trip with your fiance before you actually get married. In that case, you want to know (1) what does this scenario bring out in them? (2) what does this scenario bring out in you? (3) how do those things interact with each other? and, most importantly: (4) how do you resolve it together?

With Judaism, it's easy to fall in love with Torah. It's easy to fall in love with an idealized version of your community. With the rituals and the liturgy and the music and the ruach.

It's harder to learn a point of halacha that hurts deeply and to be forced to reconcile what you know in your bones is right with the reality of the words of Torah and its interpretation by the rabbis. It's harder to meet your congregation in love and tochecha when they have fallen short of their vision and failed you in important ways. It's harder to force yourself to engage in mitzvot that you don't see the point in or that are boring or repetitious or do not spark joy.

And until you know how you will react when (not if) that happens, until you know how you will resolve it - or if you will even want to - you aren't ready to commit to something you can't just take off.

Sometimes it sucks to be a Jew. Sometimes Torah is more yoke than honey. Sometimes you're just not feeling it. And that's okay! That doesn't make you an imposter or a bad Jew; it makes you human. But you still need to address it, because that day will come.

I love being Jewish with all my heart, but there are parts of Torah that are like a knife in my soul. For me, the way I resolve it, is that those things in particular are the shards my neshama was sent to liberate the sparks from. We live in a broken, unredeemed world, and sometimes you should feel that, acutely. That is part of being a Jew, that you are sensitized to the world and its suffering. But it should still, in the end, lift you up. It should not break you, and you should not have to cut off major pieces of yourself to fit the role. Hitting that wall and feeling that pain before you immerse in the mikvah can really open your eyes to what kind of Jew you want to be - or if you actually want to carry this burden as well as taste its sweetness.

[masarukitkat]

DRAG IS NO LONGER BANNED IN TENNESSEE ✨✨

[masarukitkat]

And also remember that letting people work from home, and attend virtual concerts, and go to meetings via zoom, and go to conferences virtually, and go to religious services virtually, and go to all kinds of other events virtually and thus, allowing for disabled and chronically ill folks to participate in society like never before…

But now, folks want to take so many of those options away all over again…isolating disabled and chronically ill folks from society again. It’s cruel…taking something beautiful like that away from us after showing us that something like that was possible this whole time since we have had the technology. And now that we know for a fact that the technology exists, non-disabled and non-chronically ill people want to take that away from us?

It’s beyond cruel.

If you’ve never been house bound or bed bound for months or years on end like I have? Or like others like me have? Then you have no idea what this feels like. None.

#tweet #tweets #twitter #the pandemic #pandemic #covid-19 #capitalism is a scam #disabled #heds #ME/CFS #myalgic encephalomyelitis #Chronic Fatigue Syndrome #Post Viral Syndrome #H1N1 #Bed Bound #House Bound #Work From Home #Virtual Attendance #Online Attendance #Chronically Ill #Chronic Illness #Disabled Adult #Millions Missing #MillionsMissing #Lung Damage #Scarred Lungs #H1N1 Gave Me Asthma #Asthma #I Am One Of The Millions Missing

[masarukitkat]

Honestly, there is a reason for why I have gone back to wearing tichels. And this is the reason😅 they are difficult for me to keep on my head mainly because my hair is very poofy and floofy and it makes my kippah, no matter what kind I try to wear, float all over the place 🤣 I will put it on all nice on my head, and then the next thing I know, I will move my head a certain way and my hair will shift and the kippah will float to the side and maybe flip up on one side and I won’t notice. I also still wear face masks and I wear N95 masks so if I’m not careful with the straps, it will make the kippah do funny things 😂 So honestly, wearing tichels are just easier for me lol. Plus, I own some very beautiful ones that were handed down to me from a great auntie in my family and those are very very special to me. And having a very good reason to wear them all the time is very nice🥰

Things people tell you about converting to Judaism:

You don't have to

It's a lifelong commitment

It takes years of studying, immersion, prayers, and rituals

Really, you don't have to

There will be circumcision involved

And a big swimming pool, and a panel of judges

Your life will be harder

People will look at you differently

If they deign to look at you at all

It never ends

Things people don't tell you about converting to Judaism:

It's actually really fucking hard to keep a kippah on your head

#jewishconvertstudent #kippah #kippot #tichels #tichel #silk scarves #head coverings #Jewish conversion #Converting to Judaism

[masarukitkat]

This amazing thing is called “Speech Assistant”. It’s the Augmented Alternative Communication (AAC) application program that I use when I cannot seem to vocalize my words (like right now for example). It speaks for me and I can set different categories to organize my phrase and word buttons and with my keyboard, I can type out full on paragraphs and things that I want to say. And ahead of time, if I have something that I want to say, like a speech or a poem or something, I can pre-record it and attach that to a button and have that ready to go on a button with my own voice. I can do that for any phrases that I want when my voice is actually functioning the way that I want it to.

I’ve tried a few different kinds of AAC programs and so far, this one is probably my favorite one. Mainly because of how well it works, how customizable it is, user friendly it is, the fact that it doesn’t make me feel like I’m a child (which is important because I am a 35 year old autistic person and not a child), and it didn’t cost me a small fortune. It cost just under $50, a one time payment which is exactly what I was looking for as far as a price range. There are some AAC programs out there that are also one time payments but most of them are well over $100 or even a couple hundred dollars and over that. Plus needing the device itself which can run several hundreds of dollars as well, depending. And then, you can also find some AAC programs that have subscription services which…well, those ones I do not recommend. Mainly because then you have to worry about being able to afford the payments every single month or every single year. And that can get very expensive very quickly and then you have to worry about losing your ability to communicate because of not being able to afford the subscription fee and that’s…not great.

This is also a really good one because it can be used both on an iPad and an iPhone. I am not sure if this app is available on Android devices or not. If it is, then awesome! Because I highly HIGHLY recommend this AAC program. It’s very easy to use, it isn’t infantilizing and I find it to be so very very helpful. It hasn’t failed me yet and: you can choose voices from any of the available voices that you have at your disposal on your device (like for Siri, for example). It’s wonderful and I love it and it has been allowing me to communicate so very freely with my spouse today and it’s just…it’s so freeing and I’m so very happy that I can still communicate and talk even when I cannot vocalize my words 🥹💜

#Speech Assistant #AAC #Alternative Augmented Communication #actually autistic #Actually Autistic Adult #disabled #accessibility #semi non-vocal #AAC Apps #AAC Apps for iPad #AAC Apps for iPhone #disabled and proud #disabled and trans #sometimes I cannot speak

[masarukitkat]

There is no such thing as Judeo-Christianity. But there are groups of people who are deeply and violently dedicated to convincing you, and the world at large, that there is. And with this comes the death of Judaism and the death of Jewish people, so what must come first is the eradication of the terminology, “Judeo-Christian”.

“The “Judeo-Christian tradition” was one of 20th-century America’s greatest political inventions.“

READ MORE

[masarukitkat]

You wanna know how bad my generational trauma is?

I cannot bring myself to watch the Oppenheimer movie trailer. Because I am aware that they used actual TNT for that explosion…they didn’t use CGI.

They used actual TNT for that.

…my Japanese family came from Hiroshima, fyi. You do the math.

#generational trauma #Japanese American #Oppenheimer movie #Oppenheimer trailer

[masarukitkat]

I’m Japanese.

Most people can’t see it. That’s O.K.

Some are surprised when they hear it. Again, I can understand.

But once people know, the reactions are quite different. Some say, “Hey, that’s awesome!”

Others go, “No way. You can’t be.”

Yeah. It’s a weird feeling when people refuse to believe who you are.

Sometimes I’ll go through the whole spiel. My dad was born in Japan and lived there until he was 10. My grandma is full Japanese. My stepdad, who I consider my grandpa, he’s Mexican — hence Acosta. There’s some Irish blood in there as well, so it’s kinda crazy. A lot of people think I’m Mexican or Spanish or Colombian but, you know, I’m American. Japanese-American.

But even after I have said this, some people continue to insist that I’m not. Sometimes I have resorted to showing pictures of my family. Hard proof, right? Case closed.

They still won’t believe me.

“Naaaaaaaaah. No chance.”

Some people have told me I’m adopted. For real.

Thankfully I’m at a point in my life where I’m embracing my identity, which is why I’m writing this for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. It’s been a long journey to get here though, which is why I want to tell my story. Not just for all the Asian-Americans out there, but also for anyone who’s been made to feel like they’re somehow different.

Read more…

[masarukitkat]

“I became involved in a lot of human rights activities, which all stemmed from my sexual orientation as much as anything.”

Kiyoshi Kuromiya was a true hero who devoted his life to the struggle for social justice. Whether it’s was for civil right for Black Americans, the injustice of the Viet Nam War, Gay Rights, or effective treatment for people with AIDS - Kuromiya was there fighting for the cause.

Perhaps Kuromiya passion to fight oppression stems from the fact he was born at the World War II–era Japanese American internment camp (Heart Mountain, Wyoming).

At a very young age, Kuromiya was aware he was homosexual, although he didn’t know the term for it. At the age of 9 he found a copy of The Kinsey’s report on sexual behavior on open shelves in Public Library. It explain his nature to him. He soon “came out” to his parents. But later he was arrested for lewd behavior in a public park with a 16 year old teen boy. They were both detained and placed in juvenile hall for three days as punishment.

”… the judge or whatever he was told me and my parents that I was in danger of leading a lewd and immoral life.”

The arrest made Kuromiya feel like a criminal. The sense of shame forced him to keep his sexual identity a secret.

But those repressed feelings drove him to fight oppression. While attending the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1960s Kuromiya got involved with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in their efforts to desegregate Maryland diners. Then in August 1963, he attended the March on Washington (along with 250,000 others) to demand justice for all citizens. At the end of the march Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

That evening Kuromiya had the opportunity to meet King and other Civil Rights leaders. He formed a friendship with King and became his assistant. He participated in the March on Washington and in the voter registration campaign with Black Students in Montgomery, Alabama.

As part of his anti-war efforts Kuromiya designed the “Fuck the Draft” using the pseudonym Dirty Linen Corp.

As a gay man, Kuromiya also sought equality and freedom for other gay people. In 1965 he participated in the “Annual Reminder” at Independence Hall, one of the earliest rallies to remind the public that LGBT people did not have basic civil rights protections. He used the occasion to publicly announce he was Gay.

After the Stonewall riots in 1969, Kuromiya helped to organize the Philadelphia chapter of the Gay Liberation Front. With the advent of the AIDS crisis he was involved with the creation of ACT-UP and was the editor for the organization’s “Standard of Care”, the first medical treatment and competency guidelines for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Kuromiya was diagnosed with AIDS in 1989. Then he suffered a recurrence of lung cancer that he had survived in the 1970s. But that didn’t stop him. He insisted on receiving the most aggressive treatment for his cancer and it’s impact on his HIV drug regimen. And participated in every treatment decision. Kuromiya died of complications from cancer in May 2000.

“I'm a twenty-year metastatic lung cancer survivor and a fifteen-year AIDS survivor. And I really believe that activism is therapeutic.”

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[masarukitkat]

“Tomorrow is tomorrow. Over there is over there. And here and now is not a bad place and time to be, especially when so much of the unknown is beautiful.” - Ryka Aoki

Who is Ryka Aoki?

• A Japanese-American transgender woman, professor, poet, composer, martial arts instructor, and Executive Director of Dissonance Press.

• She creates an intimate multi-genre collection of poems, stories, and essays with “Seasonal Velocities.” The book journeys through love and abuse in the trans experience and what it is to be human.