...‘Pride’ cont’d from pg 3
FIVE TINY EFFORTS By Nadine Pourier Blumenshine npbwellnesscoach@gmail.com
O
K, so the shelter-in-place guidelines are changing. You’ve likely tried to step up your exercise/eating/health game during this past couple of months or let that all slide as you did your best to make it through these times. Or... maybe both situations have popped up during your quarantine time. Regardless of what you’ve done, you might be looking for something simple that helps your body and mind feel like you’re taking care of yourself as you head into a ‘normal’ life. Here are five simple habits you can put into place that are easy to repeat and don’t require a lot of effort. They’re tiny, health-centered, and manageable. The one I started with several years ago when I began to focus on getting healthier was short morning walks. Over time, those walks have become a routine that I use nearly every morning. Start with one or two that you think you can fit into your life. Recruit loved ones to join you.
l Move for at least 10 minutes every day. Choose something you like to do and is simple for you to accomplish. You’ll have greater success if you like it, and it’s simple. A bonus to aiming for only a few minutes is that it will go by so quickly you’ll decide you want to do more!
things progress. For those looking to fill their season with even more Pride, Robinson also hosts a monthly radio show. ‘It’s a Queer Thang’ airs every third Friday from 5 pm - 6 pm on 88.1FM (also available to live stream on www.KFCF.org). This month’s show is dedicated to Pride and will not only cover the work Fresno Rainbow Pride has been doing in Fresno but others around the globe. A notable mention is the Global Pride virtual event taking place on Saturday, June 27. “Pride organisations from across the world will celebrate Global Pride 2020. With musical and artistic performances, speeches from activists and campaigners, and addresses by public figures, we will stream 24 hours of content that reflects and celebrates the beautiful diversity of LGBTI+ people everywhere.” (Quoted from their website, www.GlobalPride2020.org) The June episode of ‘It’s a Queer Thang,’ unlike the Fresno Rainbow Pride virtual events, is only available live when it airs. Due to copyright licenses for the music played during the show, the episode will not see a repeat broadcast. Listeners will have to tune-in at the exact time to catch the show or risk missing the experience altogether. However, the radio show does run all year round and continues to discuss a variety of topics related to the LGBTQ community. Recent episodes have mainly geared towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions include organizations that have shifted their service delivery, highlights of virtual support groups, and how people can stay connected during this time. But the general conversation remains around a constant theme. “We like to say, it’s always good queer talk, music, news, and events,” shares Robinson. Fresno Rainbow Pride also has projects in the works that continue throughout the year, beyond the annual Pride celebration, such as the Oral History project under the larger Qistory umbrella. ‘Qistory’ (queer history) seeks to document, record, store, and preserve the LGBTQ history in Fresno and the Central Valley. The Oral History project revolves around recording individual testimonies on personal experiences in the community. Stories such as
Jeffery Robinson and his husband Juan Bustamante with Renee Potik and her wife Kay Taus
those from the elderly about their lives as a queer person in the Central Valley throughout the decades. Just before the stay-at-home orders swept through the state, Fresno Rainbow Pride partnered with StoryCorps, a non-profit organization whose mission is “to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world,” to record numerous testimonies. Residents may remember a stylish airstream trailer parked outside of CMAC’s building in downtown Fresno earlier this year – that was StoryCorps’ traveling recording studio. Robinson and other organizers worked with the non-profit to coordinate and record several stories from members of the LGBTQ community, growing the Oral History library. “StoryCorps said they had not [seen] that large of a response in their travels and were really impressed at the turnout. We pushed hard to the community [that they] needed to take part in this,” Robinson furthers. Those recordings will live in not only the Qistory archives, but also the Library of Congress, where StoryCorps collections will become a permanent part of American history. Stories are also available on their website, www.StoryCorps.org.
l Always have a filled water bottle handy, and keep it with you throughout the day. l Drinking water rather than sweetened beverages have so many benefits for your body. If you always have the water bottle with you, it will be easier to avoid the other drinks.
Continues on pg 11...
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| JUNE 2020
| FRESNO FLYER |
| FEATURED | DINING | CALENDAR | MUSIC | CLASSIFIEDS |
| FRESNOFLYER.COM |
And Fresno Rainbow Pride is still looking for contributions from the public. Currently, concerning safe practices during the pandemic, recordings of personal testimony are on pause. However, Qistory also seeks to preserve items that speak to the culture of the LGBTQ community. Things such as business cards from a gay business, ashtrays, matchbooks, or shot glasses bearing a gay bar or club’s logo on it, political buttons, fliers, posters, ads, love letters between couples in a long-lasting relationship – “literally anything” as Robinson says. The organization wishes to add these materials to its archives for future display. Anyone unsure that an item qualifies or has questions about how to submit an object, email clinkinc@aol.com for more information. While the traditional celebration of Pride may not be available this year, organizations across cities, states, and even the world are finding ways to continue honoring it – both during the season and all year long. Pride may be in an intermission, but it is certainly not forgotten. Follow Fresno Rainbow Pride on social media for more information and to stay updated on everything they’re working on: @pride_fresno on Twitter, @fresno_ rainbow_pride on Instagram, and Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade and Festival on Facebook.
