Braided Issue 3

BRAIDED

Lizze Benton

Mayfly to a Monarch: 11 w X 7.83 h // resolution: 300

A mayfly to a monarch mutilated membranes martini, a meticulous metamorphosis. Monopolize my mind, mayflower I’ll be widowed come the morning My moaning amorous of mourning A mayfly to a monarch

This photo-collage is my Debut to Womxnhood, to Queerness, to Metamorphosis, to Evolution, to Mother Earth, to my sexuality, and to The Universe. My 2020 kink is Fear Play; testing my limits and boundaries of what I am most afraid of, acknowledging it and accepting it for what it is = overcoming it.

IG: lizziechloephoto IG: lizzieloudd

Hello Good Vibes, Dark Goodbyes. This image upset me the moment after I took it. Constant irrational thoughts scutter through my brain like June bugs. Sweltering heat rises through me and I am libido red and pouting. When I wipe the sheet of anxiety dripping from my face, I decide to caress my cheek also. What softness and beauty-everlasting; I pick up a smudge stick and wonder how long the magic takes to fully digest. I repeat, Good Vibez Only – forget the rest. I struggle with ED and body dysmorphia. They are silent killers. They are invisible to anyone but me. I do not “naturally” fit the criteria of a person with an eating disorder. My face and body is full, my current BMI is probably considered overweight, and you’ll catch me on #SinfulSelfLoveSunday loving myself and my body carefree. ED and body dysmorphia are difficult to diagnose because they look a little different on everyone. Using my own body in self-portrait photography has been my greatest teacher in Self Love.

“BNNY GRRL” is a complimenting image to “Good Vibez Only” image.

Good Vibez Only: 8 w X 8 h // resolution: 300 & BNNY GRRL: 8 w X 8 h // resolution: 300

Zeinab Ajasa

Social: Art: @ampersandfullstop Main: @zeeadaj Pronouns: She/Her Race/Identity: British-Nigerian American

Through my work I am interested in questioning the representation of Black Women in the media. As I am a Black woman myself, I wanted to explore how Black Women are severely underrepresented in all aspects of life and how this type of non-visibility affects us as a people. This piece serves to jump-start my thoughts on the subject by depicting some of the Black Women in my life, including myself.

Artist credits: Zeinab Ajasa, “BLACK GIRL MAGIC” (2017), blue ballpoint pen and masking tape on gridded notebook paper, 8.5”x 11”

Software: The last part “Cortney”, was drawn on Procreate.

Khloe Janel

Khloe Janel is a queer poet living in Chicago. Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, they write to heal, inspire and connect. They are a Vans Open Mic Series Winner and Public Narrative scholarship recipient. Their work has appeared in several literary publications such as Lez Spread The Word, dreams walking, The Jade Plant Project and Scout & Birdie. As well as their literary accomplishments, they’re also an established actor. They are a co-chair of the Chicago

Sag-Aftra NextGen Performers Committee.

Been skeptical

I never trusted God Or what they were supposed to represent I have this mind and body I feel the paper cuts that never leave no matter how Long Hard Or intensely I pray I never even believed they were a man as I’ve yet to meet one that gives for free or sacrifices Out of the kindness of their own heart

In Another Dimension

These hills have locs the size Of my fingertips They have legs and arms and toes that feel everything around the sun They know nothing but pity and endless clock ticking in their imagination, Wanting desperately to fit into the same t-shirt They bought five years ago Not understanding that time waits for no one

These hills move mountains with two fingers and bloody knuckles from fighting strangers who waited under the bed at night (I was told they were the devil) The point is this: There’s space for everything to exist like water There’s room for emptiness inside flooded caskets Carried by distant relatives we’re told are family yet couldn’t tell a second cousin apart from the fourth

I can’t keep a secret

My ancestors told me The world is coming to an end

But to keep it a secret

Because no one would believe me anyway She told me to pack a bag with

Two pairs of pants a sweater and five pairs of socks Because it’s cold where we’re going

The Itis

Digital Illustration Procreate 2000 x 2000 px

Melpomene

Digital Illustration

Procreate 5000 x 5000 px

Enjoy my watermelon in white company

Digital Illustration Procreate 2000 x 2000 px

Ebonee Raven

Ogafropuff - Ebonee Raven (Her/She) Ogafropuff is a Cannabis Visual Artist and Marketing Professional. Ebonee Raven uses the platform to uplift and celebrate the beautiful, innovative, and living legends that make up our Cannabis eco space. This is a place of positivity and healing for anyone who needs safe haven from the pains of a toxic and emotionally taxing society. Identifying as a Bisexual Cis Gendered Black Woman, Ogafropuff is a place to celebrate Black Creatives and Content Creators in Cannabis. Cannabis is the catalyst but art is the healing.

LAPZUL

Lapzul (born Maurice Javier Griffin Hubbard) is a Chicago based record producer and recording artist. 2019 was Lapzul’s first year as a solo artist, following almost 18 years experience as a classically trained violinist performing as Mo Javi. Lapzul now combines violin, rapping, singing, producing, and dancing into one complete artistic experience. Sexuality and gender are important themes in Lapzul’s artistry. Lapzul identifies as bothbisexual, androgynous, and non-binary! “Google LAPZUL” and follow on Instagram @LapzulMusic

I like to think about how I count

I like to think about how my brain clicks and flips with a new ritual to make Like how I count when I’m walking up and down the street Hoping to be in luck when I reach the nearest third house gate In hopes to make it before I hit 10 It’s like a game A game of counting the ways of safety And how to avoid it

Trying to not step in a sticky drip and hope that it misses me by a second or two. I count my night routine

It has since changed to something simpler than what It use to be I consequently play a playlist titled after a line in Fire Walk with Me where Bobby finally found Laura after a long day of looking for her, and she says, “I was standing right behind you but you’re too dumb to turn around” A playlist where the first couple of songs are from Julee Cruise, The Stone Roses, and Bon Iver and occasionally Kelela. And have done this until I turned 21 Where now it’s just a simple playlist that shuffles around where it Skips, flips in a way I once feared Letting go of its strict ole rules But still, I find myself playing it

I count, every morning since I’ve been 16 where I wake and have to look at a subreddit and a vulture article Like it’s my job.

To constantly know and wonder about what happened after my long slumber around the world of art, media, and music.

I count the ways how I’m going to ignore looking at my Messages app like the plague And how I feel doomed when I had to take a peek Before I did my usual morning chore

I count the ways I ignore my Facebook app which once stressed me out more than ever and now it just puzzles me when I think about it.

Sometimes, I forget how I do this. Sometimes, I wonder all day about it. Sometimes, I wonder why I do this. Sometimes, I think if I am ok I hope I’m ok. dh

Theointersectionality: the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups

I stand at a 3 way intersection. Black meets queer meets non-binary. All have affected me more than I could describe.

I have spent my whole life learning that I can not compartmentalize parts of my identity. I am undeniably black. I always have been and I have known this from the second I could comprehend race. But, I am also undeniably queer and non-binary. Although those things took much longer for me to realize and come to terms with.

I have always been not straight. I have memories of me in elementary school thinking girls are the best things ever. That all of the girls in my classes were some of the prettiest people i had ever seen. But, I had always been attracted to boys. I mean all my friends had been boys. In the years after that I would have my first girlfriend and boyfriend and partners. I would come to label myself as queer and be content with it.

While it was easy to come to terms with my blackness it was much harder to come to terms with my gender identity. Growing up I had been a tomboy. I was raised with boys and in turn had learned to be tough and rugged. A girl can not survive in a house full of boys if she was soft and sensitive. It has taken an insane amount of self discovery to pick a label that fit me. I felt like I had tried them all. Genderqueer, transgender, gender fluid. Maybe I was a Demi-girl? Maybe I was cisgender and had just been looking for attention? While I looked for labels I had always known something deep down, I have never been a girl. I had never been a girl and I had never liked the pronouns associated with being a girl. After some much needed self discovery I had landed on a term. “Non-binary” and I had landed on a bundle of pronouns that worked“he/him/his/ they/them/theirs”.

Being Black, and Queer, and Non-binary means that I will always be excluded. I will be always be the queer one at the family cookout. I will always be the black sheep amongst the ever flowing sea of white bodies at pride parades. And I will forever be correcting people on my pronouns, despite all the signs and stickers and buttons.

Theo (@_theo_rose_)

Jade Tiara Blocker

Is a 24 year old woman who lives for the arts. Her lens on life is: challenges, failures and struggles only come to give strength, reveal truth, and provide clarity. She documents her discoveries of life through poetry and shares in hopes of crossing paths with like minded people.

A mind at war

With oneself

And humankind

Will you be present?

Help me change the fates design?

The pain, the sorrow, The injustice I face Simply because of My ethnicity, my race?

I hold the sun’s rays

Within my soul

A crown on my head

Of kinks and coils.

Pupils pierce through Different hickory hues

Yearning for compassion, Love, freedom, long overdue Black is eclectic Black is subdued Black is beautiful Black holds magnitude.

Blackness holds more essence

Than I can describe or say.

All Black Lives Matter Every minute, of everyday.

CAitlyn